Consumers’ motivations for adopting a vegan diet: A mixed-methods approach

The adoption of a vegan diet might have public, health, and environmental benefits; however, still little is known about veganism as the majority of studies on dietary lifestyles have focused on vegetarianism. Hence, in order to address this gap, the present study adopted a sequential and mixed (qualitative; quantitative) research approach based on laddering interviews (n = 20) and a survey (n = 400) to validate the motives for adopting a vegan diet. The results identified seven motives: economic, ethical, health-related, hedonic, animal empathy, respect for animal rights, and personal accountability. Three motives in particular – (i.e., animal empathy, accountability, and animal rights) appear to be the key determinants of consumer’s self-identification as vegan-oriented individuals. The study found five attributes (price, nutritious, freshness; tasty, eco/animal friendly ingredients) of vegan products associated with the afore-mentioned motives. Food marketers and policy makers could highlight such attributes to encourage the adoption of a vegan diet.