Five Shapes of Cognitive Dissonance - Using Objective Hermeneutics to Understand the Meat Paradox

Area of Science:

• Consumer behavior research
• Qualitative methodology
• Ethics in food consumption

Background:

• Consumers face a conflict between meat enjoyment and animal empathy.
• Existing social science frameworks are not used to analyze this conflict.
• Understanding individual coping mechanisms is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore how consumers navigate the meat enjoyment-animal empathy paradox.
• To analyze individual responses without relying on pre-existing social science theories.
• To investigate the underlying reasons for continued meat consumption patterns.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Objective Hermeneutics, a qualitative text analysis method.
• Analyzed five distinct consumer cases.
• Focused on textual sequences to understand individual perspectives.

Main Results:

• Cases showed a spectrum from norm adherence to uncertainty about animal death.
• No analyzed case felt the need to rationalize their meat consumption.
• Individual justifications for meat eating were notably absent.

Conclusions:

• Consumer meat consumption is complex, involving unstated rationales.
• The societal consensus supporting meat eating may persist due to lack of individual justification.
• Further research is needed on the societal underpinnings of meat consumption.