title: 'Would you eat cultured meat?': Consumers' reactions and attitude formation in Belgium, Portugal and the United Kingdom.
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.
authors.affiliation: Ghent University, Department of Agricultural Economics, Coupure links 653, B-9000 Gent, Belgium. Electronic address: wim.verbeke@ugent.be.
authors.forename: Wim
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Verbeke
authors.affiliation: University of Surrey, School of Psychology, Guildford Surrey GU2 7XH, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Afrodita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marcu
authors.affiliation: Ghent University, Department of Agricultural Economics, Coupure links 653, B-9000 Gent, Belgium; International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines.
authors.forename: Pieter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rutsaert
authors.affiliation: Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Cis-IUL, 1649-026 Lisboa, Portugal; Universidade de Évora, Departamento de Psicologia, Centro de Investigação em Educação e Psicologia (CIEP), Escola de Ciências Sociais, 7005-345 Évora, Portugal.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gaspar
authors.affiliation: Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Cis-IUL, 1649-026 Lisboa, Portugal; University of Oslo, Department of Psychology, 0373 Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Beate
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Seibt
authors.affiliation: White October, OX4 1LF Oxford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Dave
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fletcher
authors.affiliation: University of Bath, Department of Psychology, BA2 7AY Bath, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barnett
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001530:Belgium; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000208:ethnology; D005524:Food Technology; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008460:Meat / Q000009:adverse effects; D008875:Middle Aged; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal; D011174:Portugal; D012922:Social Change; D046509:Tissue Culture Techniques; D006113:United Kingdom; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Attitude; Consumer; Cultured; In-vitro; Meat; Synthetic