Perceptions of Cultured Meat Among Youth and Messaging Strategies

Shannon Ruzgys; Gary Pickering

doi:10.3389/fsufs.2020.00122

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Perceptions of Cultured Meat Among Youth and Messaging Strategies

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Perceptions of Cultured Meat Among Youth and Messaging Strategies

Shannon Ruzgys and Gary Pickering

Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, Vol.4, pp.1-12

2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2020.00122

Appears in UniSC Diversity and Inclusion Research Collection

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Abstract

cultured meat

clean meat

naturalness

consumer acceptance

food disgust

framing

young adults

UniSC Diversity Area - Life Stages

Cultured or “clean” meat (CM) is arguably a more ethical and environmentally sustainable alternative to farmed meat, but several potential psychological barriers exist to its acceptance in the marketplace. The perceptions of youth, as a specific consumer cohort, have not been reported to date despite young adults having more flexible dietary habits and being more likely to avoid red meat because of animal welfare and environmental concerns. Thus, youth represent a demographic that may be more accepting of CM and for whom the pro-environmental consequences of early adoption may be realized across an entire lifespan. In this study of college-aged Canadians (mean = 20 years), we examined perceptions of CM (mixed methods) and assessed the effects of educational messaging about its benefits and then naturalness framing on intention to consume it (within subjects quantitative experimental design). Results show that youth believe CM to be unnatural, ethical, and environmentally friendly, and that taste is an important element of acceptance. Linear regression showed that food disgust was a significant predictor for both intent to incorporate CM into regular diet and completely replace meat/meat substitutes with CM. In both instances, increasing food disgust was associated with lower behavioral intent. Environmental values were also a predictor for completely replacing meat/meat substitutes with CM, where it positively affected intent and showed a similar effect size to food disgust. Both messaging on the benefits of CM and naturalness framing increased intent to consume it across all three measures and by a similar magnitude [p (F) < 0.05]. These findings provide timely and actionable information for both CM producers and marketers and contribute to scholarship on the role of values and psychological traits in sustainable food choices.

Details

Title: Perceptions of Cultured Meat Among Youth and Messaging Strategies
Authors: Shannon Ruzgys (Author) - Brock University
Gary Pickering (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Sustainability Research Cluster
Publication details: Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, Vol.4, pp.1-12
Publisher: Frontiers Research Foundation
Date published: 2020
DOI: 10.3389/fsufs.2020.00122
ISSN: 2571-581X
Copyright note: © 2020 Ruzgys and Pickering. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Organisation Unit: University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Sustainability Research Cluster
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99479408602621
Output Type: Journal article