Consumer acceptance of cultured meat in urban areas of three cities in China

Abstract

Cultured meat is not only conducive to close the gap between supply and demand of livestock products, but also of great significance to the green development of meat industry, food safety and food security. However, there is great uncertainty about whether the meat will be accepted by consumers, and consumer-related research is still in its infancy especially in China. To take early research on consumer attitudes towards the novel meat, this paper investigated consumer awareness of, acceptance of and willingness to pay for artificial meat firstly, and then explored those for cultured meat after information provision, by a questionnaire survey (n = 1,004) in three cities, Beijing, Qingdao and Tai'an. The results showed that the overwhelming majority were unacquainted with artificial meat including cultured meat. Nearly 22% were opposed to artificial meat, and approximately 50% remained neutral. However, after reading the information about cultured meat, only 12% of respondents were opposed, and the percentage that remained neutral decreased to 40%, which signified that respondents may have had a misconception about the novel meat and information provision was an effective way to encourage the public to express their opinions and be more accepting. More than 70% were willing to taste or purchase cultured meat, with an estimated willingness to pay 2.2% more than the price of conventional meat. Younger males with a higher education, those who thought highly of the meat and more satisfied with the government's regulation of food safety were more likely to accept and try cultured meat. Increasing consumer acceptance of cultured meat is a long way off but promising.