National halo and culture mixing: U.S. consumer acceptance of Korean cultivated meat made with seaweed components

• The “culturally mixed” nature of seaweed-based cultivated meat did not influence respondents’ perception and acceptance. • The South Korean country of origin of seaweed-based cultivated meat positively affected consumer perception and acceptance. • The product’s brand reputation was an important consideration among respondents, as the product was novel and information on it was virtually non-existent. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate U.S. consumers’ perception and acceptance of a “culturally mixed” product – i.e., cultivated meat (beef) made with Korean seaweed components – a product that involves the blending of a foreign cultural element (Korean seaweed) with a local cultural element (cultivated beef) to create a mixed cultural representation. Subsequently, it aimed to assess if the product’s country of origin (i.e., South Korea) would influence consumer perception and acceptance. Online in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 U.S. consumers recruited through two market research companies. The interview transcripts were analyzed by two trained coders using NVivo, a qualitative analysis software. The findings suggest that the “culturally mixed” nature of the product did not influence the respondents’ perception and acceptance. However, the product’s South Korean country of origin positively affected consumer perception and acceptance. In addition, brand reputation was an important consideration among the respondents, especially as the product was novel and information on it was virtually non-existent.