Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
5-2023
Abstract
It is evident that over-consumption of meat can contribute to the emission of hazardous greenhouse gases. One viable way to address such climate impact is to make people become more aware of more sustainable diet options, such as cultivated meat. However, it is challenging to instigate change in people's meat-eating habit, and empirical works have been examining the psychological factors that are related to consumers' willingness to consume cultivated meat. Research has suggested that psychological well-being can play a role in the meaning-making of food consumption, with higher well-being individuals showing more recognition of other sociocultural benefits of consuming food beyond just fulfilling their sustenance needs. As existing works have yet to understand the link between well-being and consumption of novel foods, the current research set out to fill this gap by examining the relationship between people's psychological well-being and their willingness to consume cultivated meat via different reasons (mediators) for consuming cultivated meat. We recruited a representative sample of 948 adults in Singapore to complete an online survey. The study offered the first evidence that there is a positive relationship between people's psychological well-being and their willingness to consume cultivated meat. Further, results revealed that their higher willingness can be motivated by the perception that cultivated meat is as healthy and nutritious, as safe as, and has the same sensory quality as real meat, and is beneficial to the society. This investigation adds to the growing literature on consumer acceptance of cultivated meat by showing the novel finding that well-being and receptivity to cultivated meat is positively linked, and such a positive link can be explained by people's better recognition of the prospective benefits offered by this alternative food.
Keywords
Cultivated meat, Psychological well-being, Consumer acceptance, Climate change
Discipline
Applied Behavior Analysis | Food Science
Research Areas
Corporate Communication; Psychology
Publication
Appetite
Volume
184
First Page
1
Last Page
9
ISSN
0195-6663
Identifier
10.1016/j.appet.2023.106496
Publisher
Elsevier
Citation
LEUNG, Angela K. Y., CHONG, Mark, FERNANDEZ, Tricia Marjorie, & NG, Shu Tian.(2023). Higher well-being individuals are more receptive to cultivated meat: An investigation of their reasoning for consuming cultivated meat. Appetite, 184, 1-9.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3746
Copyright Owner and License
Publisher
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2023.106496