Yu et al., 2025
Highlights
- Perceived ethicality, disgust, taste, and safety are the strongest predictors.
- Food technology neophobia and food neophobia are important for consumer acceptance.
- Demographic factors (age, gender, income) show minimal impact on consumer acceptance.
- Exploring buying behavior and temporal and cultural differences can be insightful.
- A theoretical framework integrating personal and technological aspects is needed.
Abstract
Background
Cultured meat could be a sustainable alternative to traditional livestock, potentially reducing environmental impact and improving animal welfare. However, public acceptance remains a challenge. While previous studies have identified factors influencing consumer acceptance, a quantitative synthesis is needed to clarify their relative importance.
Scope and approach
We conducted a meta-analysis of variables influencing the willingness to consume (WTC) cultured meat based on articles published up to August 2024. A systematic Web of Science search initially identified 828 articles. After screening for relevance and applying inclusion criteria, we narrowed the selection to 48 articles. From these, we extracted effect sizes (Pearson's correlation coefficients) for variables impacting WTC, referred to as “WTC predictors”. Using a random-effects model, we examined mean effect sizes, study heterogeneity, publication bias, and moderator effects.
Key findings and conclusions
We identified 22 WTC predictors, categorized into two groups: (A) perceptions of cultured meat and (B) people's characteristics. The strongest predictors were perceived ethicality, disgust, and taste (Group A) and food technology neophobia, food neophobia, and food disgust sensitivity (Group B). Our findings suggest that variables directly related to cultured meat itself exert a stronger influence on WTC than individual consumer traits.Future research should move beyond hypothetical, survey-based studies to examine real-world consumer behavior, including market dynamics, sensory perceptions, longitudinal and cross-cultural insights, and interactions between WTC predictors. Building on this, a comprehensive theoretical framework should be developed to provide valuable guidance for industry and policymakers.