Do Conventional Meat-Purchase Motivations Predict Acceptance of Cultured Meat? A National Study Among Polish Consumers

TL;DR

This study explores whether Polish consumers' reasons for buying conventional meat predict their acceptance of cultured meat, finding only limited connections.

Contribution

The study identifies psychographic segments of consumers and finds that conventional meat motivations only modestly predict cultured meat acceptance.

Findings

Cautious optimists and concerned ambivalents were the largest consumer segments.

Ethical and environmental motives weakly positively associate with cultured meat acceptance.

Familiarity and demographic factors like age and education influence acceptance more than conventional meat motivations.

Abstract

Cultured meat is increasingly considered a potential complement to conventional meat, yet the determinants of its acceptance remain unclear. This study examined whether motivations underlying conventional meat purchasing are associated with attitudes and behavioural intentions toward cultured meat among adult Polish meat eaters (n = 425). A cross-sectional online ssurvey assessed attitudes, perceived risks, general acceptance, behavioural intentions and socio-demographic characteristics. Overall attitudes and acceptance were moderately positive, while concerns related to technological risk and naturalness persisted. Four psychographic segments were identified, with cautious optimists (35.9%) and concerned ambivalents (33.3%) representing the largest groups. Associations between conventional meat-purchase motivations and attitudes toward cultured meat were statistically significant but modest, with ethical and environmental motives showing weak positive associations and sensory-oriented motives showing weak negative ones. The correspondence between segmentation based on conventional meat motivations and that based on cultured-meat orientations was limited, indicating only partial structural overlap. Younger, urban and higher-educated respondents were disproportionately represented in the more favourable segments, and prior familiarity increased the likelihood of positive attitudes. Overall, the findings indicate that motivations for purchasing conventional meat explain only a limited share of variability in cultured meat acceptance. Factors related to familiarity, perceived technological characteristics and broader psychosocial orientations appear more influential and should be explored further in future research.

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