Sammanfattning

Reducing or altering meat consumption has the potential to significantly lower the impact humans have on climate change. Consumers, however, are unlikely to break their food habits unless they are aware of the problem and motivated by the solutions. Fear appeals are often used to overcome this, however, their effectiveness in the context of meat reduction and climate change is unclear. Given the widespread use of fear appeals in information policy, it is important to understand more. The aim of this study was to explore fear or more specifically the danger control process in a climate change food context in order to understand the factors which motivate consumers to reduce or alter their meat consumption. Using a stratified random sample of 222 respondents in Southern Sweden, we develop a model for predicting intentions to adopt specific and general actions to reduce or alter meat consumption. Our results suggest that the general key to motivating consumers is through increasing their self-efficacy towards adopting meat alternatives and educating them on the importance their actions have in reducing the threat. We also found that appraising the threat to self (or those close) was significant, but surprisingly the effect size was greater when the threat concerned others (e.g. others in impoverished nations, animals). (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nyckelord

Climate mitigation behavior; Protection motivation theory; Climate change; Food consumption behavior; Fear appeals; Sustainable consumption

Publicerad i

Food Policy
2016, Volym: 62, sidor: 151-160
Utgivare: ELSEVIER SCI LTD

SLU författare

• Hunter, Erik

  • Institutionen för människa och samhälle, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    

• Röös, Elin

  • Institutionen för energi och teknik, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    

Globala målen

SDG2 Avskaffa hunger, uppnå tryggad livsmedelsförsörjning och förbättrad nutrition samt främja ett hållbart jordbruk
SDG4 Säkerställa en inkluderande och likvärdig utbildning av god kvalitet och främja livslångt lärande för alla
SDG12 Säkerställa hållbara konsumtions- och produktionsmönster
SDG13 Vidta omedelbara åtgärder för att bekämpa klimatförändringarna och dess konsekvenser


UKÄ forskningsämne

Företagsekonomi
Psykologi (exklusive tillämpad psykologi)
Kommunikationsvetenskap


Publikationens identifierare

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2016.06.004

Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/81247