Plant-based vs. meat-based burgers: Does cognition about environmental and health attributes predict consumer choice?

Switching to plant-based proteins from animal-source products has been proposed to address both health and environment impacts of livestock production. While experiment-based research on consumer demand for plant-based (vs. meat-based) foods often estimates a significant percentage of people interested in these products, evidence of purchase behavior in real-world markets shows that purchases of plant-based products represent a very small proportion of transactions. We conducted an online experiment with a sample of 831 US-based respondents on the choice of plant- vs. animal-based frozen patties and burgers in a complex choice environment featuring 50 unique products. We examined individual-specific drivers of choice outcomes. Specifically, we introduced a novel application of ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to identify choice outcomes that participants were actively (cognitively) considering while making a choice. The key outcomes of interest that we hypothesized would promote choice of plant-based burgers were health and environmental consideration. We also included taste, and cost, as well-established drivers of choice. We examined the impact of EMA variables alongside more traditional measures of consumer priorities during food choice. Approximately 10% of participants chose plant-based products. Participants actively considering the environment were significantly more likely to choose plant-based options, while individuals reporting active consideration of taste were significantly more likely to choose meat-based alternatives. In a complex choice environment, we find significantly lower choice of plant-based burgers than in simple choice experiments, suggesting that standard experiments may overestimate consumer interest. Further, our results suggest that EMA approaches may provide important information for predicting choice outcomes.