Consumer Preferences for Conventional Meat and Meat Alternatives.

Area of Science:

• Food Science
• Consumer Behavior
• Agricultural Economics

Background:

• Growing interest in alternative proteins due to sustainability and health concerns.
• Limited understanding of consumer preferences for novel meat alternatives.
• Need to assess market viability of different protein sources.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate consumer attitudes towards canned ham from different protein sources: Handon pork, lab-grown, and plant-based.
• To determine consumer willingness-to-pay (WTP) for these meat alternatives.
• To explore consumer knowledge and labeling preferences for meat alternatives.

Main Methods:

• Choice experiment design utilizing data from a nationwide online survey.
• 1,000 South Korean consumers participated.
• Random parameter logit analysis applied to estimate WTP.

Main Results:

• Consumers exhibited the highest mean WTP for Handon pork canned ham.
• Lab-grown canned ham received the lowest mean WTP.
• Consumers demonstrated lower subjective knowledge of meat alternatives and opposed labeling them as 'meat.'

Conclusions:

• Real meat remains preferred over novel meat alternatives like plant-based or lab-grown options.
• Consumer acceptance of meat alternatives is influenced by factors including perceived knowledge and labeling.
• Further research and consumer education are needed to promote acceptance of alternative protein sources.