Flexitarians’ and meat eaters’ heterogeneous preferences for beef: Gourmets and value seekers

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In light of increasing evidence of climate change and the related negative effects for the environment, consumers are slowly changing their eating habits not only towards healthier, but also towards more sustainable diets. A key factor of more sustainable diets is the reduction of meat consumption. A large share of consumers follows this advice, thus adopting a flexitarian diet. This trend has led to an observable change in market demand for meat products and product offerings that meat producers are competing with. Beef is characterized by high greenhouse gas emissions, hence, it does not fare well from a sustainability perspective. To understand consumer preferences for beef, we conduct choice experiments in Germany (n = 621) and the UK (n = 625) across meat eaters and meat reducers. We highlight segment-specific preferences across different levels of meat consumption using latent class choice analysis. Results show that beef preferences are heterogeneous; while meat-eaters prevail they differ in their preferences for price and country-of-origin. Flexitarian consumers’ preferences differ; while some segments prefer gourmet beef, most flexitarian segments are value-seekers. Our results contribute to the literature on the diversity in flexitarian consumption by providing a more nuanced picture of consumers’ preferences for beef products. In addition, our results provide relevant insights for practitioners in the beef value chain in order to design target-oriented products.