An Italian study found that using disgusting pictures or information can make people feel less happy about eating meat and make it harder to ignore animal suffering, so people are more likely to choose plant-based foods.
Researchers used three types of information to influence people: one showed that factory farming environments are dirty and messy, another talked about the unfair suffering of animals, and the third was neutral information.
For people who think humans are more important than animals, after seeing information about animal suffering, it became harder for them to find moral reasons to justify eating meat, and they were more likely to choose not to eat meat.
The study also found that health or environmental reasons alone are not enough to change eating habits, but emotional and moral approaches may be more effective.