It is with great pleasure that I share the news about my last published paper on acceptance of a blended meat-mushroom burger.
We know how the reduction of meat intake and increase in vegetable consumption has attracted considerable attention from researchers and food businesses. When I was at Cornell as a Marie Curie fellow my team and conducted a field experiment in a university canteen with the aim of investigating the main behavioral factors determining the consumption of a blended meat-mushroom burger. Our results show that providing information highlighting the sustainability attributes of mushrooms has the most significant and positive impact on acceptability in comparison to information related to nutrition and indulgence. In addition, the participant's beliefs about the health and sustainable benefits of mushrooms positively impact their attitude toward the blended burger. This then significantly influences their behavioral intention to purchase the product, which proves to be a good predictor of consumption behavior. Our findings suggest marketing opportunities arising from blending plant-based ingredients with meat products.
If you are interested in finding out more, here is the full article.
A sincere acknowledgment for their contribution to the success of this study, to all my fellow co-authors: Jie Li, ShihuaHuang, and Miguel I.Gómez from Cornell University; Qian Wangc from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics; Michele Lefebvre from White Lodge School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, Purdue University Northwest; and Cristina Mora from the Department of Food and Drug, University of Parma.