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When bad becomes worse: unethical corporate behavior may hamper consumer acceptance of cultured meat

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  • Rabl, Vincent A.
  • Basso, Frédéric

Abstract

Cultured meat is an emerging food innovation that promises to be a more sustainable alternative to conventional meat. However, despite its potential health, environmental and animal welfare benefits, research suggests that consumer acceptance of cultured meat is not assured. Across two pre-registered experimental studies (N = 456), this article investigates the extent to which two different credence characteristics, namely corporate social responsibility (Study 1) and food safety (Study 2), lead to halo-based inferences that may affect the consumer acceptance of cultured meat. Results indicate that, whereas the halo effect of positive corporate behavior is negligible, negative corporate behavior yields a substantial negative halo effect on consumers’ attitudes towards cultured meat, which in turn decreases acceptance of cultured meat. Findings also reveal that these negative halo-based inferences are heightened among consumers who value highly corporate social responsibility (Study 1) and food safety (Study 2). Overall, this article reveals an asymmetric halo effect by showing that people tend to react strongly to negative, but not to positive, information about a cultured meat company. The implications of the present research are discussed in the conclusion.

Suggested Citation

  • Rabl, Vincent A. & Basso, Frédéric, 2021. "When bad becomes worse: unethical corporate behavior may hamper consumer acceptance of cultured meat," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 110789, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
  • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:110789
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/110789/
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    6. Nathalie C M Rolland & C Rob Markus & Mark J Post, 2020. "The effect of information content on acceptance of cultured meat in a tasting context," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(4), pages 1-17, April.
    7. Jihee Hwang & Jihye You & Junghoon Moon & Jaeseok Jeong, 2020. "Factors Affecting Consumers’ Alternative Meats Buying Intentions: Plant-Based Meat Alternative and Cultured Meat," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-16, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Nick Lin-Hi & Marlene Reimer & Katharina Schäfer & Johanna Böttcher, 2023. "Consumer acceptance of cultured meat: an empirical analysis of the role of organizational factors," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 93(4), pages 707-746, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    consumer acceptance; credence characteristics; cultured meat; halo effects; sustainability; corporate behavior; Internal OA fund;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R14 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Land Use Patterns
    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General

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