Food innovation towards a sustainable world: A study on intention to purchase lab-grown meat

Paola Castellani, Fabio Cassia, Alfonso Vargas-Sánchez and Elena Giaretta

Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2025, vol. 211, issue C

Abstract: Lab-grown meat has been proposed as a food innovation to meet Sustainable Development Goal 12 of moving towards more sustainable consumption and production patterns. However, although technological innovations in lab-grown meat are advancing, a better understanding is needed regarding the perspectives of potential consumers of this product. Specifically, whether the perceived higher environmental sustainability of this meat compared with conventional meat influences purchase intentions remains unclear. The effects of perceived risks must also be assessed. To address these knowledge gaps, we propose a model that draws on the theory of reasoned action and integrate it with potential consumers' perceptions of environmental sustainability and risks of lab-grown meat. We apply variance-based structural equation modelling using data from a sample of Italian consumers to evaluate the model's explanatory and predictive accuracy. The findings highlight the effects of environmental sustainability and perceived risks on purchase intentions and provide insights for policymakers and businesses.

Keywords: Sustainability; Lab-grown meat; Cell-based meat; Cultured meat; Knowledge; Food innovation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162524007108
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:211:y:2025:i:c:s0040162524007108

DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2024.123912

Access Statistics for this article

Technological Forecasting and Social Change is currently edited by Fred Phillips

More articles in Technological Forecasting and Social Change from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().