Cultured Meat Consumer Acceptance: Addressing Issues of Eco-Emotions

Abstract

Meat substitutes, in particular cultured meat, appear to be an effective way of combating climate change, ensuring human and animal welfare, and meeting the challenges of food security. In the face of the climate emergency, we need to speed up the decarbonization of local and national economies and curb populations’ negative emotional responses. Eco-emotions (such as fear) can indeed go so far as to cause disengagement from the environmental transition and hamper action. The aim of this article is to understand and predict, from the perspective of the extended theory of planned behaviour (TPB), (i) consumer intentions and (ii) the determinants of the adoption of cultured meat by introducing two important variables drawn from the literature on eco-emotions, i.e. eco-anger and eco-depression. The results show that, in addition to the traditional TPB variables (attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control), eco-depression has a significant effect on consumer intentions and the acceptability of cultured meat. This research can help to improve decision-making processes and to effectively predict intentions, acceptability, and purchasing behaviour with regard to cultured meat. Organizations will be able to use this model to propose differentiated marketing techniques, optimize marketing campaigns, and improve citizen engagement.