Animal‐Based Brands Taking the Plant‐Based Opportunity: A Tasting Experiment Exploring Consumer Acceptance of Plant‐Based Brand Extensions

ABSTRACT This study investigates how consumer taste and brand equity perceptions shape the acceptance of plant‐based milk products. Using a blind/informed tasting experiment, we evaluated consumers' willingness to buy (WTB) and taste perception of a plant‐based milk alternative produced by a traditional dairy brand, compared with competing plant‐based brands. Specifically, we examined (i) the effect of taste and brand equity on WTB and (ii) whether taste mediates the effect of brand equity on WTB. The results show that the dairy brand was positively related to WTB both directly and indirectly, by enhancing taste perception, particularly for sensory attributes such as a milky, and creamy and sweet profile. In contrast, plant‐based brands were less effective in evoking similar dairy‐like sensory associations. These findings highlight the potential advantage for dairy brands of replicating the sensory experience of their conventional products in plant‐based alternatives.