Consumer preferences for meat products blended with plant-based 1 proteins in Germany
High levels of meat consumption are increasingly being criticised for ethical, environmental, andsocial reasons. Plant-based meat substitutes have been identified as healthy sources of proteinin comparison to meat. This alternative o?ers several social, environmental and health benefitsand may play a role in reducing meat consumption. However, there has been a lack of researchon how specific meat substitute attributes can influence consumers to replace or partially replacemeat in their diets.Research demonstrates that in many countries consumers are highly attached to meat.They considerit as an essential and integral element of their daily diet. For these consumers which arenot interested in vegan or vegetarian alternatives to meat, so-called meathybrids could be a lowthresholdoption for a more sustainable food consumption behaviour. In meathybrids only afraction of the meat product (e.g. 20% to 50%) is replaced with plant-based proteins.In this paper, the results of an online survey with 500 German consumers are presented with focuson preferences and attitudes relating to meathyrids. The results show that more than fifty percentof consumers substitute meat at least occasionally. Thus, about half of the respondents reveal aneligible consumption behaviour in respect to sustainability and healthiness to a certain degree.Concerning the determinants of choosing either meathybrid or meat it becomes evident that thehighest e?ect is exerted by the health perception. The healthier meathybrids are perceived, thehigher is the choice probability. Thus, this egoistic motive seems to outperform altruistic motiveslike animal welfare or environmental concerns when it comes to choice for this new productcategory