Consumers’ Preferences and Attitudes towards Plant-Based Milk

Abstract

Plant-based milk (PBM) has become increasingly popular due to its environmental sustainability, health benefits, ingredient abundance, and unique taste. This study aims to identify the main factors that affect consumer preferences and attitudes towards PBM, and to examine the effect of consumer attitudes including environmental awareness, health consciousness, and food neophobia on WTP. We use the double-bounded dichotomy choice (DBDC) method to calculate consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for PBM. We find that the appearance, taste, nutritional value, and environmental benefits of PBM significantly increase consumers’ WTP for it. Consumers with high environmental awareness are more likely to perceive PBM as environmentally friendly and are willing to pay a higher price for it. Consumers with high health consciousness tend to value the environmental benefits of PBM and prioritize purchase convenience, as it aligns with their health-conscious lifestyle, leading to a higher WTP for PBM. The results of our study can help design effective strategies to market plant-based milk and develop sustainable and healthy food systems.

Driving Factors Influencing the Decision to Purchase Plant-Based Beverages: A Sample from Türkiye

“…Those without Turkish reading and comprehension skills were not included in the study. The number of participants to be included in this study was calculated as 170, with a = 0.05 margin of error and 95% test power using the G*Power program (version number 3.1), considering the studies in the literature [ 6 , 19 , 20 ]. This study was approved by the Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University Medical Research Ethics Committee (ethical approval number: ATADEK 2024-3/124).…”

“…A two-part questionnaire was used to test the hypotheses ( Supplementary File S1 ). While preparing the survey, studies in the literature were reviewed [ 6 , 19 , 20 ]. The first part included questions examining the sociodemographic characteristics and general nutritional habits of the participants.…”

“…Previous studies in the literature have presented data on the increasing demand for plant-based dairy products and the reasons for this demand [ 6 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ]. The frequently reported reasons for this demand include sustainability [ 13 , 15 ], popularization of the vegan diet [ 17 ], increased ethics and rights awareness [ 17 ], inadequate availability of mammalian milk [ 12 ], and the health effects of plant-based beverages [ 11 , 12 ].…”

The Impact of Consumer Environmental Preferences on the Green Technological Innovation of Chinese Listed Companies

“…Signaling theory, proposed by A. M. Spence in 1973, suggests that signaling refers to the transmission of precise information about the value or quality of a good through observable consumer behavior, and the production of goods is influenced by the information. When consumers are more willing to choose green products than normal products and are willing to pay higher prices for them [14,15], according to signaling theory, enterprises are impacted by this market signal [5]. Some studies have found that enterprises set up a green development strategy and strengthen their environmental protection concept.…”

“…Consumers with high environmental preferences are more likely to make more environmentally friendly product choices, such as choosing green products [14]. They are also more willing to pay higher prices for green products [12,15,16]. It can be seen that existing studies are more concerned with the analysis of consumer behavior [17][18][19], and rarely link consumer behavior to the production and innovation of micro-firms.…”