Red meat, reactance and political party: Defensive processing of empathy-based meat reduction appeals

Reduction of red meat consumption is urgently needed, but there is concern that meat-reduction appeals may lead to reactance. Across three studies (total N = 2978), two of which were preregistered, participants were shown a meat-reduction appeal that was paired with an image that linked meat to its animal origins, a meat-only image or no image to test whether different message characteristics affected how messages were processed. Results show that reactance mediates the relationship between empathy and meat-related attitudes and intentions. Additionally, results provide some evidence that Democrats (vs. Republicans) are more likely to have indirect effects of message condition (seeing a meat-animal association image vs. a meat-only image or a no image condition) on meat-related attitudes and intentions through empathy and reactance. Results have implications for the design of meat reduction appeals as they may elicit both empathy and reactance, leading to opposing effects on persuasion.