Recipient Organization
PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
408 Old Main
UNIVERSITY PARK,PA 16802-1505
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Novel foodshave emerged to address pressing global issues such asfood security, sustainability, and nutrition. The meat industry has recently received attention regarding efficiency and sustainability to meet future consumer demand. Alternative protein options have become available for consumers to integrate into their diet. However, many Americans are unwilling to replace conventional meat with these plant protein sources due to sensorial disappointment, lack of familiarity, and meat attachment. Cell-cultured meat (CCM) offers an alternative to conventional meat with a high potential of a comparable meat-eating experience. However, the success of CCM is reliant on consumer acceptance, which is a function ofboth the food and the consumer. Despite the approval for CCM commercialization in the USA, consumer response to these novel foods is unclear. There is a clear research gap on understanding consumers' reactions regarding selecting, purchasing, and consuming these products. To bridge this gap, my cross-disciplinary approach combines virtual reality (VR) experiments and sensory testing to understand consumer behavior at each stage of acceptance:willingness to try (WTT), willingness to purchase (WTP), and willingness to adopt (WTA).Using a validated VR buffet simulation, participants will makevirtual food choices ofCCM, plant-based meat, and conventional meat labeled with various terms. This immersive experience will enable insight ofthe consumer-decision making process, shedding light on how different label terms influence WTT CCM. I will also develop an interactive VR simulation, AGCELLERATE,to allow participants to virtually take part in the production process of CCM. By assesing consumer response before and after participatinginAGCELLERATE,I aim to gauge the impact of enhanced knowledge on WTT and WTP CCM. Through qualitative cookability testing and quantitative sensory taste tesing, participants will directly experience and rate the sensory attributes of CCM, plant-based meat, and conventional meat. From analyzing participant feedback, I will identify key characteristics that drive WTP and WTACCM. I aim to provide comprehensive insights into the factors that influence consumer acceptance of CCM. Ultimately, results will support all stakeholders in the conventional and alternative meat industriesby providing applicable insights to position and produce products based on consumer preferences.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
80%
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
20%
Goals / Objectives
This fellowship will assist thedevelopment of the PD as a leader in sensory and consumer science of novel foods through (i) independent research bridging food science, sensory and consumer science, and nutrition, (ii) skills development (i.e., qualitative methods training, conference presentations), (iii) leadership and mentoring opportunities, and (iv) extending professional network inside and outside of academia.Further, the product inherent and consumer inherent factors that impactacceptance of cell-cultured meat will be evaluatedthrough the following objectives:Determine the impact of cell-cultured meat labels and consumer traits on willingness-to-try in a product-relevant environment.Assess the effects of knowledge, attitudes, and emotions on willingness-to-try and willingness-to-purchase.Determine the critical product inherent drivers for willingness-to-purchase and willingness-to-adopt.
Project Methods
This project will leverage a validated virtual reality (VR) buffet to test consumer choice when presented with cell-cultured meat (CCM), plant-based meat, and conventional meat. The impact of CCM label terms on food choice will further be tested.Overall differences between meat options will be analyzed with mixed-effects Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and post-hoc comparisons, to study the effects of meat/label option, participant, consumer-inherent factors, emotion measurements and their interactions on willingness-to-try (WTT). Multivariate statistics (e.g., principal component analysis (PCA), cluster analysis, multiple factor analysis) will evaluate potential segmentation based on consumer-inherent factors, implicit and explicit emotions, and meat choice.This project will further use the VR environment to create a virtual CCM production facility where participants are able to create and process CCM from cell sample to final product. The VR CCM production process educational simulation, AGCELLERATE, will be created with input, materials (e.g., equipment scans (LiDAR), photos, videos), and feedback from CCM stakeholders, and published research regarding safety, regulations, and sustainability. It will include steps such as culturing animal cells, proliferating, differentiating, harvesting, formulating, and packaging. The type and form of meat will be selected to reflect commercial CCM products. Through an iterative design process, an authentic VR simulation will be created.Changes in WTT, willingness-to-purchase (WTP), knowledge, attitudes, and explicit emotions will be measured as difference scores from pre- and post-surveys and analyzed by a linear mixed regression to identify the impact of each attribute on WTT/WTP ratings. Exit questionnaires will collect VR experience feedback to ensure validity of the simulation.Video of AGCELLERATE will be shared internally via Penn State's media team as well as ScholarSphere.Sensory testing will be conducted measuring WTPand willingness-to-adopt (WTA) cell-cultured meat both quantitatively and qualitatively.In a blind sensory test, participants will rate overall liking on a 9-point hedonic scale and intensities of relevant aroma, flavor, taste, and texture attributes on unstructured line scales, followed by rating WTP and WTA. Significant differences in liking, and sensory properties between samples will be identified by two-way ANOVA and post-hoc testing. Participants will be invited toparticipate in preparing cell-cultured meat, conventional meat, and plant-based meat samples in Penn State's Sensory Evaluation Center kitchen under observation. This qualitative approach aims to reveal consumer-product interactions during cooking. They will also be probed to discuss perceived differences in preparation and cookability of samples. After sample reveal, differences in perception, WTP, and WTA will be evaluated. Transcriptions and coding of audio and video for emergent themes will be analyzed in NVivo.All findings will be disseminated in peer-reviewed journal publications and scientific conferences. Further, stakeholder briefings will provide collaborators with research updates. An IDP will be used to evaluate the progress of honing the PD's skillset.