Enabling sustainable plant-forward transition: European consumer attitudes and intention to buy hybrid products

Banovic, M., Barone, A. M., Asioli, D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2274-8450 and Grasso, S. (2022) Enabling sustainable plant-forward transition: European consumer attitudes and intention to buy hybrid products. Food Quality and Preference, 96. 104440. ISSN 0950-3293 doi: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2021.104440

Abstract/Summary

Although recommendations for a transition towards more plant-forward diets have been proposed and despite consumers reporting willingness to reduce meat consumption, consumer behaviour is frequently less environmentally sustainable than recommended. This calls for simpler strategies that may lead to a more optimistic view on both supply and demand side by using less rigid and more flexible approaches, such as hybrid products, combining meat and plant-based ingredients. Against this milieu, present study examines for the first-time in a cross-cultural context (Denmark, Spain, UK) and on a large consumer sample (N = 2766), attitudes and intention to buy hybrid products, while taking into account consumers individual traits related to meat attachment, health consciousness and environmental self-identity. Results show that hybrid products could be a crucial driver for enabling a successful plant-forward transition, as the meat element in these products, together with consumers’ affinity and pleasure-seeking attitudes towards meat, would facilitate consumers’ acceptance of more sustainable alternatives. Indeed, our results show that sensory perceptions play a major role in mediating the effect of consumers’ attitudes on intention to buy hybrid products. Conversely, consumers’ environmental self-identity and health consciousness have minimal to no effect on consumers’ attitudes towards hybrid products. Thus, the results of our study support the value of strategies centring on bringing the best of two worlds: the pleasurable sensory characteristics of the meat realm, and the healthiness and sustainability benefits of the plant realm. In this sense, hybrid products could be an elegant initial approach adopted by practitioners and supported by policy makers to enable a more nuanced transition from fully meat-based to plant-forward diets.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/100825
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Agriculture, Policy and Development > Department of Agri-Food Economics & Marketing
Uncontrolled Keywords	hybrid products, plant protein, alternative protein, sustainability, consumer attitudes, European countries
Publisher	Elsevier
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