1. Identifying Consumer Groups and Their Characteristics Based on Their Willingness to Engage with Cultured Meat: A Comparison of Four European Countries
- Author
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Anouk Boereboom, Philippe Mongondry, Luis K. de Aguiar, Beatriz Urbano, Zheng (Virgil) Jiang, Wim de Koning, Frank Vriesekoop, UNIVERSITE D'AGRICULTURE HARPER ADAMS NEWPORT GBR, Partenaires IRSTEA, Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA), Groupe de Recherche en Agroalimentaire sur les Produits et les Procédés (GRAPPE), Ecole supérieure d'Agricultures d'Angers (ESA)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Universidad de Valladolid [Valladolid] (UVa), and Lincoln University, New Zealand
- Subjects
[SHS.SOCIO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Sociology ,Health (social science) ,Chemical technology ,cultured meat ,willingness to engage ,consumer behaviour ,food neophobia ,psychographic factors ,TP1-1185 ,Plant Science ,Health Professions (miscellaneous) ,Microbiology ,Article ,[SDV.IDA]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Food engineering ,Food Science - Abstract
International audience; Cultured meat, as a product of recent advancement in food technology, might become a viable alternative source of protein to traditional meat. As such, cultured meat production is disruptive as it has the potential to change the demand for traditional meats. Moreover, it has been claimed it can be more sustainable regarding the environment and that it is, perhaps, a solution to animal welfare issues. This study aimed at investigating associations between the consumer groups and demographic and psychographic factors as well as identifying distinct consumer groups based on their current willingness to engage with cultured meat. Four European countries were studied: the Netherlands (NL), the United Kingdom (UK), France (FR) and Spain (ES). A sample of 1291 responses from all four countries was collected between February 2017 and March 2019. Cluster analysis was used, resulting in three groups in the NL and UK, and two groups in FR and ES. The results suggest that Dutch consumers are the most willing to engage with cultured meat. Food neophobia and food technology neophobia seem to distinguish the groups the clearest. Moreover, there is some evidence that food cultural differences among the four countries seem to be also influencing consumers’ decision.
- Published
- 2022