Investigating the effect of animal visualisations on meat choice: An experimental lab study with a fake food buffet

IF 4.9 1区农林科学 Q1 FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Food Quality and Preference Pub Date : 2025-03-09 DOI:10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105508

Nina Weingarten , Alice Elena Seffen , Leonie Bach , Julia Meis-Harris , Anna Aeikens , Sara Barbieri , Simone Dohle

{"title":"Investigating the effect of animal visualisations on meat choice: An experimental lab study with a fake food buffet","authors":"Nina Weingarten , Alice Elena Seffen , Leonie Bach , Julia Meis-Harris , Anna Aeikens , Sara Barbieri , Simone Dohle","doi":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105508","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>High rates of meat consumption have negative effects on health and the environment. Various studies have shown that visualising animals (e.g., through photos of animals placed next to meat products) can induce cognitive dissonance and reduce the intention to consume meat. However, almost all of these previous studies were conducted in online settings. Therefore, the present study investigates the effect of animal visualisations on meat choices in an experimental lab study at a fake food buffet. We used a between-subjects design with three conditions: realistic images (<em>n</em> = 107), schematic images (<em>n</em> = 107), and no images (<em>n</em> = 107). As the dependent variable, we compared the proportion of meat that participants selected from the fake food buffet. Contrary to our pre-registered hypotheses, we found no differences in meat selection, neither between the animal visualisation conditions compared to the control group, nor between the realistic and the schematic image condition. Moreover, we found no support for a mediating effect of cognitive dissonance. We conclude that animal visualisations are less effective in realistic settings than in online studies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":322,"journal":{"name":"Food Quality and Preference","volume":"129 ","pages":"Article 105508"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Food Quality and Preference","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0950329325000837","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

High rates of meat consumption have negative effects on health and the environment. Various studies have shown that visualising animals (e.g., through photos of animals placed next to meat products) can induce cognitive dissonance and reduce the intention to consume meat. However, almost all of these previous studies were conducted in online settings. Therefore, the present study investigates the effect of animal visualisations on meat choices in an experimental lab study at a fake food buffet. We used a between-subjects design with three conditions: realistic images (n = 107), schematic images (n = 107), and no images (n = 107). As the dependent variable, we compared the proportion of meat that participants selected from the fake food buffet. Contrary to our pre-registered hypotheses, we found no differences in meat selection, neither between the animal visualisation conditions compared to the control group, nor between the realistic and the schematic image condition. Moreover, we found no support for a mediating effect of cognitive dissonance. We conclude that animal visualisations are less effective in realistic settings than in online studies.

查看原文本刊更多论文

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Food Quality and Preference 工程技术-食品科技

CiteScore

10.40

自引率

15.10%

发文量

263

审稿时长

38 days

期刊介绍： Food Quality and Preference is a journal devoted to sensory, consumer and behavioural research in food and non-food products. It publishes original research, critical reviews, and short communications in sensory and consumer science, and sensometrics. In addition, the journal publishes special invited issues on important timely topics and from relevant conferences. These are aimed at bridging the gap between research and application, bringing together authors and readers in consumer and market research, sensory science, sensometrics and sensory evaluation, nutrition and food choice, as well as food research, product development and sensory quality assurance. Submissions to Food Quality and Preference are limited to papers that include some form of human measurement; papers that are limited to physical/chemical measures or the routine application of sensory, consumer or econometric analysis will not be considered unless they specifically make a novel scientific contribution in line with the journal''s coverage as outlined below.