Are two reasons better than one? How natural and ethical appeals influence consumer preferences for clean meat

Abstract

Clean meat shows great potential as an alternative to conventional meat and may help to mitigate sustainability problems stemming from the meat industry. However, this novel method of producing meat is currently being met by consumer hesitancy due to perceptions of unnaturalness and feelings of disgust. While prior research has shown that appeal positioning based on naturalness and ethicality, for example, may enhance the acceptance of clean meat, these findings are limited because prior research has only examined different appeals in isolation, and no research has explored the psychological mechanism underlying the effect of these appeals. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to examine how a joint appeal based on both natural and ethical aspects of clean meat is more effective in enhancing consumer preference. Specifically, two experiments were conducted among participants from the US (n = 302) and the UK (n = 303) to examine whether a joint appeal is more effective than a single appeal focusing on either naturalness or ethicality, and no appeal. Extending the current literature, our findings show that the joint appeal increases the effectiveness of the communication, with participants in this condition showing a significantly higher preference toward the product when compared to those in the single-appeal or no-appeal conditions. The results also demonstrate that disgust and compassion underlie the effect of the joint appeal on consumer preference. Taken together, the current research provides insights to enhance the effectiveness of marketing interventions in promoting consumer preference for and acceptance of clean meat.