Authors: Matthew Ruby and Garrett Broad (2026)
What’s the article about? (At a glance)
Background: Past research by Broad (2023) has shown that consumers fall into four groups when it comes to interest in alternative proteins. This framework is based on the interplay of two variables: Meat Attachment (attached vs. not attached) and Novel Food Technology (optimists vs. sceptics).
1) Ecomodernists are attached to meat and are techno-optimists.
2) Carnivore traditionalists are attached to meat and are techno-sceptics.
3) High-tech vegans are not attached to meat and are techno-optimists.
4) Good foodies are not attached to meat and are techno-sceptics.
The new PHAIR article by Ruby and Broad (2026) explored the attitudes of these four consumer groups towards five different alternative proteins: (1) whole-food veggie burgers, (2) conventional meat, (3) plant-based meat, (4) cultured meat, and (5) meat produced using regenerative farming. Six-hundred participants from the US and UK completed a questionnaire assessing Meat Attachment, Food Technology Neophobia, and attitudes towards alternative proteins (e.g., willingness to try).
Key findings:
- Cluster analysis replicated Broad’s (2023) four consumer groups (with a fifth unclassified group). Analyses of the two structuring dimensions (i.e., Meat Attachment and Food Tech Neophobia) revealed distinct contributions across the five protein products.
- Food Tech Neophobia was a strong predictor of negative attitudes towards plant-based meat and cultured meat.
- Meat Attachment was a strong predictor of negative attitudes to whole-food veggie burgers and plant-based meat, and positive attitudes towards conventional and regenerative meat.
Implications for advocacy
The results suggest that distrust of new food technologies and emotional attachments to meat are two key barriers to acceptance of alternative proteins. While meat attachment is the more pervasive barrier, it does not appear to be a barrier to cultured meat acceptance among consumers in the US and UK, whereas food technology phobia is a barrier to cultured meat acceptance. Plant-based meat may be the most challenging protein to advocate for since all but high-tech vegans are likely to find some aspect of plant-based meat problematic or undesirable.
Key future directions include testing interventions aimed at reducing food technology neophobia. Given the pervasiveness of meat attachment as a barrier to plant-forward eating, the fact that meat attachment was weakly related to cultured-meat evaluations highlights its viability as a potential alternative to conventional meat for ecomodernists.
Quick Links
The paper “Consumer Attitudes toward Conventional, Regenerative, Plant-based, and Cell-Cultured Meat: The Role of Meat Attachment and Food Technology Neophobia” was published in Volume 5 (2026) of the PHAIR journal.
To read the full, open-access paper, go here
Blog post by Jared Piazza for PHAIR
Cover photo by Judith Prins
PHAIR Society 