Cultured meat in western media: The disproportionate coverage of vegetarian reactions, demographic realities, and implications for cultured meat marketing

Challenges and prospects for consumer acceptance of cultured meat

“…Finally, still others may consider that cultured meat may help to win back the vegetarians to eat meat by offering additional diversity to the food available. The finding of our study that vegetarians have a less favorable perception of cultured meat's healthiness supports the idea that taking the reactions of vegetarians as a benchmark might be a risky strategy towards the future positioning and adopting of cultured meat (Hopkins 2015). Goodwin and Shoulders (2013) finally pointed out that the meat industry might need to closely monitor how traditional meat is covered in the media and communicate in a more proactive way.…”

“…An interesting remark is the fact that even positive intended information can fuel consumer resistance because it can increase awareness of previously unknown risks (Verbeke et al 2007). Driessen and Korthals (2012) mentioned the fact that the development of cultured meat had already given rise to heightened media attention in the Netherlands, for example, and this prior to the highly publicized tasting of the first cultured meat burger in August 2013 in London (Hopkins 2015). Goodwin and Shoulders (2013) analysed the media coverage about cultured meat in the United States (U.S.) and the European Union (prior to the August 2013 cultured burger tasting) and concluded that print media were primarily supporting the idea of cultured meat production.…”

“…However, details on the technology described by the print media were felt to be too technical and possibly confusing for the wider public. A more recent analysis of Western media coverage after the August 2013 cultured burger tasting (Hopkins 2015) concluded that mass media provided a quite distorted picture of the obstacles in the path of cultured meat acceptance, notably through portraying mainly vegetarian consumers' reactions and referring mainly to cultured meat's future potential as a meat substitute for vegetarian or vegan consumers who still constitute only a niche market in most countries.…”

Technological, Regulatory, and Ethical Aspects of In Vitro Meat: A Future Slaughter‐Free Harvest

“…Goodwin and Shoulders () highlighted the media coverage of this new product, reporting that between 2005 and 2011 this new product has been brought in news in terms of history, benefits, time, process, and problems associated with livestock agriculture by several sources who were mostly advocates of this new technology. Covering the media coverage of 2013 cultured meat burger tasting event in London, Hopkins () characterized the over emphases of the coverage and tenure of the coverage, particularly in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The paper argued that by overemphasizing the acceptance of this product among vegetarians, the Western media does not give a clear image of the obstacles that are in the way of cultured meat acceptance.…”

“…The study highlights certain unresolved issues such as characterization of ethical and social constraints and development of cost-effective culture media devoid of any animal components Bhat et al (2015) Compared the benefits of conventional meat production systems with cultured meat production Cultured meat has potential to contribute towards animal welfare and environment. Public acceptance and the production cost are two most important challenges Hopkins (2015) The…”