Photo credit: Meatiply
A new study [Higher well-being individuals are more receptive to cultivated meat: An investigation of their reasoning for consuming cultivated meat] by SMU researchers, co-led by SMU Professor of Psychology Angela Leung [and Associate Professor of Communication Management (Practice) Mark Chong], suggests that there is a positive correlation between consumers’ psychological well-being and their willingness to consume cultivated meat. The findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal Appetite. The results reveal that the increased willingness of the participants to eat cultivated meat can be further explained by a better understanding of the benefits of cultivated meat including its safety and its societal benefits. The researchers said that while they were not very surprised by the findings, it was encouraging to see the research providing empirical evidence to support a positive relationship between people’s psychological well-being and their receptivity to the novel food of cultivated meat for the first time. Prof Leung also shared what cultivated meat companies and ecosystem players could take away from this research.