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‘Would you eat cultured meat?’: Consumers' reactions and attitude formation in Belgium, Portugal and the United Kingdom

‘Would you eat cultured meat?’: Consumers' reactions and attitude formation in Belgium, Portugal and the United Kingdom
‘Would you eat cultured meat?’: Consumers' reactions and attitude formation in Belgium, Portugal and the United Kingdom
Cultured meat has evolved from an idea and concept into a reality with the August 2013 cultured hamburger tasting in London. Still, how consumers conceive cultured meat is largely an open question. This study addresses consumers' reactions and attitude formation towards cultured meat through analyzing focus group discussions and online deliberations with 179 meat consumers from Belgium, Portugal and the United Kingdom. Initial reactions when learning about cultured meat were underpinned by feelings of disgust and considerations of unnaturalness. Consumers saw few direct personal benefits but they were more open to perceiving global societal benefits relating to the environment and global food security. Both personal and societal risks were framed in terms of uncertainties about safety and health, and possible adverse societal consequences dealing with loss of farming and eating traditions and rural livelihoods. Further reflection pertained to skepticism about ‘the inevitable’ scientific progress, concern about risk governance and control, and need for regulation and proper labeling.
attitude, consumer, cultured, in-vitro, meat, synthetic
0309-1740
49-58
Verbeke, Wim
231bb739-16ef-4e75-aeab-917d2696f0b7
Marcu, Afrodita
25ba37d2-9068-4c58-8527-fb799152add3
Rutsaert, Pieter
42d30761-4def-493c-a794-29e12889e9f0
Gaspar, Rui
961797d4-2de9-4a4c-9ecb-b501871f6eb6
Seibt, Beate
77ff4397-28c2-424d-b0f4-fe363c39ae98
Fletcher, Dave
83ecc163-72c4-4610-8da0-c4b730e6bd1b
Barnett, Julie
e075f8d9-cf31-4bfc-a6be-41988b5ce764
Verbeke, Wim
231bb739-16ef-4e75-aeab-917d2696f0b7
Marcu, Afrodita
25ba37d2-9068-4c58-8527-fb799152add3
Rutsaert, Pieter
42d30761-4def-493c-a794-29e12889e9f0
Gaspar, Rui
961797d4-2de9-4a4c-9ecb-b501871f6eb6
Seibt, Beate
77ff4397-28c2-424d-b0f4-fe363c39ae98
Fletcher, Dave
83ecc163-72c4-4610-8da0-c4b730e6bd1b
Barnett, Julie
e075f8d9-cf31-4bfc-a6be-41988b5ce764

Verbeke, Wim, Marcu, Afrodita, Rutsaert, Pieter, Gaspar, Rui, Seibt, Beate, Fletcher, Dave and Barnett, Julie (2015) ‘Would you eat cultured meat?’: Consumers' reactions and attitude formation in Belgium, Portugal and the United Kingdom. Meat Science, 102, 49-58. (doi:10.1016/j.meatsci.2014.11.013).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Cultured meat has evolved from an idea and concept into a reality with the August 2013 cultured hamburger tasting in London. Still, how consumers conceive cultured meat is largely an open question. This study addresses consumers' reactions and attitude formation towards cultured meat through analyzing focus group discussions and online deliberations with 179 meat consumers from Belgium, Portugal and the United Kingdom. Initial reactions when learning about cultured meat were underpinned by feelings of disgust and considerations of unnaturalness. Consumers saw few direct personal benefits but they were more open to perceiving global societal benefits relating to the environment and global food security. Both personal and societal risks were framed in terms of uncertainties about safety and health, and possible adverse societal consequences dealing with loss of farming and eating traditions and rural livelihoods. Further reflection pertained to skepticism about ‘the inevitable’ scientific progress, concern about risk governance and control, and need for regulation and proper labeling.

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Verbeke et al 2015_Meat Science.pdf - Other
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More information

Published date: April 2015
Keywords: attitude, consumer, cultured, in-vitro, meat, synthetic
Organisations: Psychology

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 373099
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/373099
ISSN: 0309-1740
PURE UUID: 58fbb499-fc25-4607-9406-568cf9ce969d

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Date deposited: 07 Jan 2015 13:07
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 18:48

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Contributors

Author: Wim Verbeke
Author: Afrodita Marcu
Author: Pieter Rutsaert
Author: Rui Gaspar
Author: Beate Seibt
Author: Dave Fletcher
Author: Julie Barnett

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