Dietary change – consumer preferences, marketing barriers and enablers, and the role of meat alternative choice(s) in achieving sustainable consumption

This research builds upon existing theories of consumer behaviour, sustainable and ethical consumption and social marketing. It aims to improve academic and practical understanding of the effect of socio-environmental attributes on consumer preferences regarding meat and meat alternative products and examine how more sustainable consumption patterns can be achieved. It is based upon the idea that marketing strategies can be used with the ultimate aim of changing behavior in order to benefit the target audience and society in general. This research adopts objectivism with a positivistic theoretical underpinning. The methodology for this research involves a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE), which is an approach of experimental research. In this method respondents are presented with a number of alternatives and asked to choose the one that they prefer or believe it will maximise their benefit. Focus groups will be used to validate the attributes derived from the literature review and help design the DCE. Climate change, environmental concerns, sustainable development and food security have recently drawn a lot of attention. This environmental and social impact of food products and their importance to consumers is the focus of this paper. In effect, this study is focusing on the demand side of sustainable development. It investigates the possible ways that more sustainable meat consumption patterns can be achieved through social marketing. Meat free alternatives are used as a possible tool of social marketing, in order to achieve a change in consumer behaviour.