Plant-based eating: Exploring at home vs dining out behaviours across consumer segments

Area of Science:

• Food science and nutrition
• Behavioral science
• Sustainability studies

Background:

• Global food systems face pressure to become more sustainable.
• Dietary shifts towards plant-based eating are essential but incomplete.
• Understanding behavioral dynamics is key to promoting plant-based diets.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate systemic and behavioral factors influencing plant-based eating.
• Analyze adoption drivers and barriers for different dietary groups (veg*ns, meat reducers, omnivores).
• Examine the relationship between meat consumption frequency and capability, opportunity, and motivation for plant-based foods.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of data from 3,014 Australian participants.
• Recruitment primarily through a plant-based living magazine.
• Investigation of dietary choices in home and dining-out settings.

Main Results:

• Plant-based eating dynamics differ significantly between home and dining-out contexts for all dietary groups.
• Motivation negatively predicts meat consumption frequency across all groups.
• Capability negatively predicts meat consumption for meat reducers and omnivores; opportunity positively predicts meat consumption for omnivores when dining out.

Conclusions:

• Behavioral interventions should consider context-specific dynamics (home vs. dining out).
• Targeted strategies can leverage motivation and capability to reduce meat consumption.
• Findings inform policy, menu development, and ecosystem readiness for sustainable diets.