Priority Research Areas
Faunalytics’ mission is to maximize movement effectiveness by empowering advocates with research and data. Therefore, we prioritize research that can have a strong impact for animals in at least one of the following topic areas:
Topics with Impact On A Large Number of Animals
We want to help as many animal advocates and animals as possible. For that reason, we prioritize projects that target farmed animals or capacity building for farmed animal advocates.
Examples include:
- Globalizing the Factory Farm: International Organizations and The Spread of Industrial Animal Agriculture
- Quantifying the Small Body Problem: A Meta-Analysis of Animal Product Reduction Interventions
- Global Animal Slaughter Statistics and Charts
- Animal Product Impact Scales
- Domination and Exploitation: Understanding Industry Costs for Chicken, Egg, and Fish Products in the United States, Brazil, and China
- Comparing Beliefs About Fishes and Chickens and Their Relation to Animal Positive Behaviors Across Countries
- Animal Agriculture is the Missing Piece in Climate Change Media Coverage
Research That Identifies Effective Tactics And Strategies
This important area of research helps to guide animal advocacy in data-driven ways. We prioritize several different types of projects within this topic, including: research that identifies tactics that predict behavior change, case studies of important wins or failures, either in our movement or analogous examples in aligned movements, and synthesis and summary research on evidence based practices most likely to shift behavior and/or public opinion.
Examples:
- Tactics in Practice Series (summarizing research on 7 different advocacy tactics and counting)
- Planting Seeds: The Impact of Diet and Different Animal Advocacy Tactics
- Research and Data as Tools in Advocates’ Decision Making
- Research and Data as Tools in Advocates’ Decision Making: A Focus on China and Southeast Asia
- Exploring the Impacts of Food System Education: A Case Study
- Different Strokes for Different Folks: Comparing U.S. Groups’ Openness to Pro-Animal Actions
- The Animal Agriculture Industry’s Perspective on Advocates and Cage-Free Reforms
- “Reduce” or “Go Veg”? Effects on Meal Choice
- Increasing Donations Through Appeal Types, Exposure, and Donor Characteristics
Research Addressing Advocate Needs In The Global South
The animal protection movement is in very different stages in different countries, and different context-specific approaches will be needed in these geographies that look different from work in the Global North. We prioritize research that is specifically driven by advocates’ needs in these key geographies identified in our strategic plan, including Brazil, China, and India.
Examples include:
- Food Systems Advocacy in the Global South: A Framework and Pilot in India
- Cross-Movement Collaboration for Farmed Animal Advocates in Southeast Asia
- How to Message Plant-Based Diets and Products in Southeast Asia: A Social Media Analysis
- Research and Data as Tools in Advocates’ Decision Making: A Focus on China and Southeast Asia
- Pathways to Impact: An International Study of Advocates’ Strategies and Needs
- Chinese Consumers’ Attitudes Toward Animal Welfare: Behaviors, Beliefs, and Responses to Messaging
- Growing a Community: How to Support Farmed Animal Protection in China
- Attitudes Towards Farmed Animals in the BRIC Countries
Research Supporting Policy And Legislative Change Efforts in the U.S.
With a fast changing political landscape in the U.S., there are both clear threats to animal welfare, as well as highly impactful opportunities for change. We prioritize research that supports advocates working on policy and legislative change efforts in this environment.
Examples:
- Political Animals? How U.S. Voters Respond to Candidates Making Farmed Animal Policy Proposals
- Effective Communication with Political Staffers: A Framework for Animal Advocates
- Support for Farmed Animal Welfare Legislation in Ten Key U.S. States
- Big Ag, Big Bucks: How USDA Subsidies Feed Market Inequality and Political Influence
- Bridging Conservative Values and Animal Protection
- Reforming Animal Agriculture Subsidies: A Guide for Advocates
- Local Action for Animals as a Stepping Stone to State Protections
Research On Public Perceptions Of Animal Issues And The Animal Protection Movement
This research can help us understand where the public is already on our side and easily activated versus where there is a need for more persuasion and education in order to move public opinion. Research in this area can help guide decision making and priority setting by providing a better picture of where the public stands on issues of importance to our movement.
Examples:
- Public Acceptability of Standard U.S. Animal Agricultural Practices
- Exploring Gen Z’s Attitudes Towards Animals and the Environment
- The Role of Humanewashing in Grocery Stores: How Welfare Labels Affect Purchasing Behavior
- Jurors’ Reflections on the Smithfield Piglet Rescue Trial
- Impact of Corporate Commitments on Public Attitudes
- Twitter Trends: #CageFree, #Vegan, #Animal Rights, and More!
- COVID-19 and Animals: What the Public Does and Doesn’t Know
Research Supporting Increased Collaboration And Movement Growth
We prioritize projects that identify opportunities for increased movement capacity and collaboration between advocates in our movement and across movements.
Examples:
Previous Priority Research Areas
These are areas of research that we prioritized in the past, but have deprioritized in our current and upcoming projects because there is already a large body of existing research (in the case of diet change research), and because we are excited to see that other organizations have prioritized these topics (in the case of both diet change research and movement insights), which allows us to focus on other areas in our current priorities.
Research On Diet Change
This area of research focuses on understanding changing rates of veg*n diets, people’s motivations and the barriers they encounter around diet change, and effective tactics and strategies for creating long-term change in the consumption of animal products. As a previous priority topic area, we have created a large body of research on these issues.
Examples:
- The Economic Impacts of a Plant-Based Transition: Exploring Two Growth Scenarios
- Tactics in Practice: The Science of Making and Keeping Veg*ns
- What Vegan Advocates Can Learn from the Social Spread of Quitting Smoking
- Bringing Back Vegans and Vegetarians: An Obstacle Analysis
- Going Vegan or Vegetarian: Many Paths to One Goal
- Going Vegan or Vegetarian: Motivations and Influences
- Going Vegan or Vegetarian: Barriers and Strategies on the Path to Success
- A Farm Sanctuary Tours’ Effects on Intentions and Diet Change
- “Reduce” or “Go Veg”? Effects on Meal Choice
- The Rise of Veg, the Fall of Meat: A Restaurant Case Study
- Study of Current and Former Vegetarians and Vegans
- Associations Between Consumption of Meats and Animal Product Alternatives
- What to Call Plant-Based Meat Alternatives: A Labeling Study
Research On Movement Insights
This area of research explores questions about the inner-workings of the animal protection movement, with insights about how to create more sustainable work environments and increased well-being, improve diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, and how to work effectively with donors (among others).
Examples:
- From Performative to Transformative: Navigating Equity and Inclusion Across A Diverse Animal Advocacy Movement
- Why Did You Quit? Leadership Turnover in the Animal Advocacy Movement
- Creating a More Equitable Movement: Compensation in the Farmed Animal Advocacy Sector
- The State of Animal Advocacy in the U.S. and Canada: Experiences and Turnover
- Donor Segmentation: The People Who Donate to Non-Companion Animals
- Which Groups Are Least Likely to Support Animal Causes? (And Which Causes Do They Support Instead?)
- People Who Support Animal Causes: Who Gives More?
