Understanding University Students’ Willingness to Try Cultured Meat: Insights from Italy

Background: Cultured meat (CM) has emerged as a promising, albeit controversial, alternative to conventional livestock production, offering potential benefits in terms of sustainability, animal welfare, and resource efficiency. Despite these potential advantages, consumer acceptance remains uncertain, particularly in countries where CM is not yet commercially available. Objectives: this study investigates the determinants of willingness to try (WTT) cultured meat among Italian university students (n = 335), with particular attention to the role of product-related perceptions and personal values and motivations. Methods: data were collected through an online survey and analyzed using binary logistic regression to identify the main drivers of respondents’ willingness to try CM. Results: the findings suggest that acceptance of CM among university students is driven primarily by familiarity, perceived safety, and ethical considerations, particularly those related to animal welfare, rather than by demographic characteristics or resistance to novel food technologies. Conclusions: these findings offer practical implications for policymakers and industry stakeholders, highlighting the importance of transparent communication strategies emphasizing product safety and animal welfare benefits as a means of increasing familiarity with and acceptance of CM among younger consumers.