Acceptance of Cultured Meat in Germany—Application of an Extended Theory of Planned Behaviour

Abstract

This study examines the willingness to consume a cultured meat burger in Germany. Based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), we assessed attitudes, perceived behavioural con-trol, and subjective norms via an online questionnaire. Attitudes were operationalized in this research as general attitudes towards cultured meat and specific attitudes towards a cultured meat burger. Furthermore, the TPB was extended with nutritional‐psychological variables including food (technology) neophobia, food disgust, sensation seeking, and green consumption values. In total, 58.4% of the participants reported being willing to consume a cultured meat burger. Using a path model, the extended TPB accounted for 77.8% of the variance in willingness to consume a cultured meat burger. All components of the TPB were significant predictors except general attitudes. The influence of general attitudes was completely mediated by specific attitudes. All nutritional‐psycho-logical variables influenced general attitudes. Food technology neophobia was the strongest nega-tive, and green consumption values were the strongest positive predictor of general attitudes. Mar-keting strategies should therefore target the attitudes of consumers by encouraging the natural perception of cultured meat, using a less technological product name, enabling transparency about the production, and creating a dialogue about both the fears and the environmental benefits of the new technology.