Consumer Responses to Flexitarian Meals in Taiwan: Resistance-Based and Ethical–Evaluative Pathways

Flexitarian meals were operationalized in this study as a heterogeneous set of meal-level options within a flexible meat-reduction context rather than as a standardized product category. Drawing on complementary perspectives informed by Innovation Resistance Theory (IRT) and the Value-Attitude-Behavior (VAB) framework, this cross-sectional study examined image-related concerns (IB), animal-welfare-related food-choice orientation (AWFO), support for flexitarian dietary transition (SFDT), purchase intention (PI), and self-reported pro-environmental meal-choice behavior (PEMCB). A convenience sample of 608 Taiwanese adults was surveyed from 4 to 10 May 2026. Structural equation modeling examined direct and indirect associations among the focal constructs, whereas separate hierarchical regression analyses using standardized observed composite scores tested the moderating roles of food-related pro-environmental orientation (FPEO) and perceived environmental severity (PS). IB was negatively associated with PI, whereas AWFO was positively associated with SFDT. SFDT was positively associated with both PI and PEMCB, while PI was not independently associated with PEMCB in the structural model. Bootstrap analyses further indicated significant indirect associations of AWFO with PI and PEMCB through SFDT. In the separate regression analyses, FPEO did not significantly moderate the hypothesized relationships, whereas the PS interactions were statistically significant but modest in magnitude. Small to modest age-group differences were observed among respondents aged 18–31, 32–45, and 46–61 years. Given the cross-sectional design, adapted self-report measures, heterogeneous meal examples, and non-probability sampling, the findings should be interpreted as associations rather than causal effects.