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The major purpose of this study was to compare the fresh chicken meat consumption structure of urban and rural households of different income levels in Van province, Turkey.

The sample size of 96 urban and 95 households were selected randomly using sampling selection method where the population is limited. The data were collected by personnel interviewing from the households in eight districts and eight villages of Van province, Turkey between 15 November 2004 and 5 March 2005. The households were classified as the lowest, medium, upper medium and the highest income groups. Independent‐samples t‐students, one‐way ANOVA, chi‐square and linear regression statistical tests were used.

The average yearly fresh chicken meat consumption per head was 19.1 and 14.6 kg for urban and rural households, respectively. According to regression test results $1,000 increase in yearly income will raise the yearly chicken meat consumption of urban and rural households by 3.8 and 8.7 kg, respectively. The income was effective on both the consumption level and behavior of households. The urban households attached more attention to habit and nutrition value variables, while the cheapness was the major factor affecting the rural households' preference of chicken meat.

The article analyzes the differences/similarities of urban and rural households in terms of consumption expenditures and consumers' behaviors towards fresh chicken meat. The paper is an original research subject as regards its potential contributions of the nutritional measures to be taken and marketing strategies to be developed in the region.

The purpose of this paper is to explore strategic differences in marketing communication tactics for vegan and humane meat brands.

Content analysis was used to categorize the types of persuasive appeals used on the packaging of vegan and humane meat brands.

Humane meat brands use animal welfare and environmental appeals more often whereas vegan brands use taste appeals more frequently.

Marketers’ communication strategies for alternatives to traditional meat consumption are different from those of activists and non-profit organizations. By targeting middle of the road consumers, both vegan and humane brands can support widespread efficient and curtailment behaviors and in the process benefit consumers, the brands and society.

Anti-consumption and/or reduction of meat and animal by-products are arguably the most impactful ways in which consumers can alter their diets to positively impact individual and societal well-being. Consumers seeking alternatives to traditional meat consumption may either chose more sustainable meat products (efficient behaviors) or reduce/eliminate meat consumption (curtailment behaviors). Existing research suggests that such consumers can be divided into two segments – those driven by personal motives (health and/or taste) and those motivated by prosocial concern (environmental sustainability and/or animal welfare) and brands should match persuasive appeals to consumer motives, i.e. curtailment-focused vegan brands should use environmental or animal justice appeals and efficiency-focused humane meat brands should use taste or health appeals. However, the present research assumes marketers’ perspective and demonstrates that both vegan and humane brands target middle of the road consumers striving to balance multiple personal and prosocial goals, being socially responsible without compromising taste.

Meat consumption causes a large amount of global greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental problems. Studies showed that consumers underestimate the environmental impact of meat consumption compared to other food-related behaviours. A video intervention was conducted to investigate the effect of information on consumers' perception and behaviour.

Two didactically different videos about meat and the environment and a control video were shown to 189 participants. Ratings about the environmental impact of different food-related behaviours as well as participants' meat consumption frequency were obtained directly before, one week later and one year after the screening by self-report questionnaires.

Mean rating of the environmental impact of meat consumption was second to the least important of the different food consumption patterns. In the first intervention group, the rating increased significantly (p = 0.001) after having watched the video. There was no such effect in the second intervention or the control group. Self-reported meat consumption frequency did not change significantly in any of the groups. No long-term differences between the groups could be found.

The results suggest that there is still a lack of knowledge concerning the environmental impact of meat consumption. Providing information can affect awareness, depending on the type of information delivery. The circumstances under which information encourages behaviour change need to be further explored.

This is the first study that investigated the impact of different videos about environmental impacts of meat consumption on consumer perceptions and behaviour.

Global meat consumption has increased rapidly, which is of concern, given its contribution to environmental destruction. Within this framework, this article aims to analyse the social determinants in relation to stopping red meat consumption for environmental reasons in Chile, with a focus on gender and social status.

Using data from a representative national survey, we estimated six logistic regression models to analyse the social determinants that reduce red meat consumption in Chile.

The results show that social stratification variables (gender, social class, household income and education) are closely linked with choosing to stop eating red meat for environmental reasons. A possible interpretation of these results is the ambiguous status of red meat in contemporary Chilean society and its symbolic link with masculinity.

The analysis may be complemented by future research that distinguishes the environmental aspects, which encourage individuals to stop eating red meat. In addition, asking about meat consumption in an environmental survey, may generate social desirability.

The results contribute to understanding which social factors help stop meat consumption within a strong carnism culture. This is relevant since South America is well known for high meat consumption, and few studies have explored the issue of consumption in these countries.

Meat consumption is higher than health recommendations, but little is known about potential moderating factors in rural areas. Informed by the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), this paper explored potential moderators amongst rural residents.

The authors summarized meat-related attitudes (importance, taste preference, healthfulness perceptions), social norms, controls (availability, affordability, self-efficacy) and frequency of consumption (overall, lean meat, wild game) in a cross-sectional survey of rural, adult, US volunteers (n = 572). The authors examined correlations and differences by gender, connection to hunting and to livestock raising.

These rural residents had positive attitudes toward meat, high family expectations to consume meat and daily consumption. Half of the meat consumed was lean but was infrequently wild game. Respondents with connections to hunting or raising livestock reported more positive meat-related attitudes, norms and self-efficacy, and more frequent meat consumption. Those with a connection to hunting also had higher perceived availability, affordability and consumption of wild game.

Strong meat preferences and expectations may hamper moderation amongst rural residents, particularly in households connected to hunting or raising livestock. Dietary advice can be tailored to respect meat consumption, emphasize the identification and selection of lean meats and highlight wild game as a lean meat that is moderately available and affordable. Future research should disentangle hunting and livestock raising as potential factors in food choice and examine wild game consumption in jurisdictions where it can be sold legally.

This study was novel in examining meat-related practices amongst rural residents, separately examining lean meats and wild game, and identifying hunting and livestock raising as important predictors.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the evidence for a positive correlation between increased consumption of organic products and potential climate change mitigation via decreased consumption of meat and it is discussed to what extent organic consumption is motivated by climate change concerns.

A fixed effects model together with a factor analysis and ordinary least square are used to analyse household purchase data for 2,000 households in 2006-2010 combined with survey questionnaire data from 2008.

A small but statistically significant correlation between increasing organic budget shares and decreasing meat budget shares is found. People include food-related behaviour such as the purchase of organic food and reduced meat consumption as ways to mitigate climate change. However, other behavioural modifications such as reduction of car usage and household heating are perceived as more important strategies.

Other food-related mitigation strategies could be investigated. The climate effect of different diets – and how to motivate consumers to pursue them – could be investigated. Individual as opposed to household data would supplement the analyses.

Demand-side policies aiming at climate-friendly consumption could be a central factor in combating climate change. Already, food-related mitigation strategies such as lowered meat consumption are established practices among a group of organic consumers. As some consumers believe that climate change can be mitigated by consuming organic food, the authors propose that this is taken into account in the development of organic farming.

The authors propose a shift from analysing the climate-friendliness of production to addressing the climate-friendliness of consumption using consumption of organic food as a case. The authors link stated concerns for climate changes with actual food-related behaviour.

The psychological foundations of consumers’ reasons for product choices are analyzed in the field of marketing. The purpose of this research is to identify the implicit reasons for white meat consumption in the UK and Turkey.

In the scope of the means-end chain theory, in-depth interviews were conducted with individuals, and the reasons for consumers’ product preferences were revealed by moving from concrete to abstract.

It has been determined that the white meat consumption of Muslims in the UK is primarily shaped by their religious approach. In Turkey, on the contrary, both consumption patterns and reasons for preference are changing. It has been found that white meat consumption is associated with values such as security needs, satisfaction with life, self-fulfillment and happiness.

This research has contributed to the marketing literature by examining consumers’ implicit consumption reasons for white meat in the context of religion and culture.

Marketing strategies should focus on building trust in halal certification, particularly in the UK. Brands should associate their promotion strategies with feelings of security and happiness, which are associated in the minds of consumers.

This study is a new study in terms of revealing the connotations of consumers about consuming chicken and fish and showing the implicit needs that the brands can emotionally associate with.

Many western consumers have become sensitive to the negative effects of their consumption levels in many product categories and those new attitudes are challenging their habitual consumption behaviors. How do dissonant attitudes influence the process toward behavioral change? How does external information reinforce those conflicting attitudes with new dissonant cognitions and foster intentions to modify behavior? This study aims to propose a conceptual model, based on cognitive dissonance theory, which introduces psychological discomfort as an important mediator toward behavioral change intentions.

Two studies are conducted. Using structural equation modeling under Amos, hypotheses are tested and validated in the field of meat consumption on a sample of 501 French consumers. A second study investigates the impact of the nature of the stimulus on consumers’ responses.

The results show that psychological discomfort is increased by the contact with dissonant external information and that consumers may at the same time minimize the effects of additional cognition by implementing informational strategies such as trivialization or decredibilization to defend their consumption behavior.

Future researchers could consider the various objections to meat consumption separately and further explore the dynamics between external information, consumer cognitions and consumer consumption behavior in diverse consumption contexts.

The authors advise meat marketers to reduce consumer psychological discomfort by promoting the hedonic perceived value and by presenting credible counterarguments to defend the benefits of their products.

The study may encourage advocates of lower meat consumption to provide credible information about the detrimental effects of meat consumption to influence behavioral change intentions.

As responsible consumption becomes a key trend in western societies, new attitudes, fostered by external critical information, are influencing consumption behavior in many product categories. This research contributes to a better understanding of the attitude–behavior gap in a context of emerging criticism toward highly consumed and traditional products.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate if sudden retail price increases for beef products have affected consumers purchasing behaviors. Little research has been conducted that integrates retail price volatility with subdued food consumption motivations. Prior research about consumers’ meat-purchasing habits and systemic concerns linked to sustainability and animal welfare is limited or de-contextualized. This study also attempts to assess if retail price increases have triggered a change in perception of the meat industry, by looking at specific values related to animal protein production and consumption.

This study is based on an inductive, quantitative analysis of primary data obtained from a survey on beef consumption. For convenience and validity, all respondents had to be living in Canada for 12 months, and were at least 18 years old. The choice of country is not trivial. First, access to data were convenient for this study. Second, and most importantly, Canada has supply managed commodities that include poultry and chicken. In effect, Canada produces the amount of chicken it needs. Beef production is vulnerable to market volatility. As a result, demand-focussed market conditions for one often influence conditions for the other.

Findings indicate that higher prices have compelled 37.9 percent of the sample to reduce or to stop beef consumption altogether in the last 12 months. Beyond the issue of price, sustainability, food safety and health appear to be significant factors, more so than ethics (animal welfare). Results also show that education can be considered as a determinant for sustainable aspects of beef production when prices increase. Age and gender had no statistical significance on survey results. Some limitations are presented and future research paths are suggested.

Since the sample in this study was mainly composed of consumers based in Canada, the generalizations of the findings should be approached with some caution. The same research should be conducted with consumers from other parts of the Western world to verify if the results can be generalized.

This survey help the authors to understand some aspects of beef consumption at retail. Findings of this empirical study have implications for future communications to consumers, in that greater emphasis should be given to the connection consumers have with other nutritional alternatives. Since meat consumption in the Western world is intrinsically linked to culinary traditions, behaviors can be challenging to change.

The economic implications of a rapid adoption of a plant-based diet for the agricultural economy would be significant. However, the reality is that according to many studies of consumer behavior, customers still place a higher value on buying and eating meat than on any other food group. Canada’s relationship with animal proteins has deep cultural roots, particularly during holidays and summertime.

The present study has given important insights into the determinants of meat consumption reduction, a behavior which could both have long-term economic implications for the cattle and beef industries. This paper provides a deeper insight into some socio-economic factors that contribute to slow erosion of meat consumption reduction, and the effects of higher prices at retail. This is, as far as the authors know, likely the first study of its kind.

Per capita meat consumption in Switzerland has been rather consistent for decades, although the percentage of vegetarians has risen to 14 per cent according to a recent survey. This study tries to resolve this apparent contradiction

The study is based on household consumption data from Switzerland and focuses on the distribution of consumption rather than on average amounts, using descriptive statistics and a mixed-effects model which explains the coefficient of variation between single consumer consumption amounts.

Vegetarianism and veganism are not only overestimated through surveys but also associated with a segment of the population that is consuming increasing amounts of meat. This dual development leads to a stable per capita meat consumption.

Our results indicate that greater scientific attention should be paid to this segment of heavy meat eaters.