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How can insect-based food appeal to consumers in the Swedish market? : A qualitative study on identifying major factors that impact purchasing insect-based food and examining how novel companies can penetrate the Swedish market.

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How can insect-based food appeal to

consumers in the Swedish market?

A qualitative study on identifying major factors that impact purchasing insect-based food and examining how novel companies can penetrate the Swedish market.

Bachelor thesis within: Business Administration

Number of credits: 15

Programme of study: Marketing Management

Authors: Daiki Okutani and Dairong Wu

Tutor: MaxMikael Wilde Björling

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Bachelor thesis in Business Administration

Title: How can insect-based food appeal to consumers in the Swedish market? A qualitative study on identifying major factors that impact purchasing insect-based food and examining how novel companies can penetrate the Swedish market.

Authors: Daiki Okutani and Dairong Wu

Tutor: MaxMikael Wilde Björling

Date: 24/05/2021

Key terms: Entomophagy, novel food, sustainability, diet behaviour, marketing entry, young consumer behaviour, food industry, marketing mix.

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to examine the main factors that both positively and negatively influence consumers purchasing behavior in terms of insect-based food. By investigating the factors, the study aimed to shed light on how insect-based food can seamlessly penetrate the Swedish market with the use of marketing strategies. In order to further facilitate the study, a qualitative research with an inductive approach was selected. With the foundation of formulated questions, the semi-structured interviews were conducted to gain deeper insights in relation to the study. The interviewees included Swedish residents in the age range of 20-40 and 13 individual interviews were carried out to ensure the quality of data. The study identified some major contributing factors: sustainability, product quality and availability. These major factors, therefore, created a need for potential marketing strategies, which primarily focuses on extensive information sharing and green labelling.

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Acknowledgements

Firstly, we would like to express wholehearted appreciation to our tutor MaxMikael Wilde Björling who supported and guided us along the process and provided us with valuable insights and feedback for improvement.

Secondly, we would like to show our deep gratitude to everyone who participated in our interviews and provided us with honest and deep knowledge and opinions during the interviews.

Once again, a huge thanks to the tutor and everyone who kindly spared time to take the interviews. It is absolutely impossible to complete this thesis without the engagement of our tutor and all participants.

__________________ __________________

Daiki Okutani Dairong Wu

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Table of Content

Definitions

1. Introduction...1

1.1 Background...1

1.2 Problem discussion...3

1.3 Purpose and research question...5

1.4 Delimitations...6

2.Frame of Reference…..……….………...………...…7

2.1 Literary search………..…….…………..7

2.2 The food industry……….…….…………...7

2.2.1 More innovation in the food industry...7

2.2.2 Plant-based meat alternatives...8

2.3 Consumer behavior……….….………....9

2.3.1 Consumer decision-making process...9

2.3.2 Diffusion of innovation...10

2.4 Insect-based diet……….……….11

2.4.1 Insect-based food potential and sustainability...11

2.4.2 Consumer attitude towards insect-based food...12

2.5 Marketing……….….…....…...13

2.5.1 Marketing mix in international marketing...13

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2.5.3 Influencer marketing on purchase decision...15

2.5.4 Informative labeling to increase confidence...16

3. Methodology and method...17

3.1 Research philosophy...17 3.2 Research approach...17 3.3 Research strategy...18 3.4 Method………...……….……19 3.4.1 Data collection...19 3.4.2 Sampling method...19

3.4.3 Composition of interview questions...20

3.4.4 Empirical data collection...21

3.4.5 Ethical consideration...22

3.5 Quality of data………...23

3.6 Data analysis………..25

4. Empirical findings and analysis...26

4.1 Sustainability and food choice………..………...26

4.1.1 Awareness and daily actions...26

4.1.2 The environmental impact of food choice...26

4.1.3 The environmental impact of meat substitutes...27

4.1.4 Drivers and inhibitors of meat substitutes...27

4.2 Consumption behaviour………...29

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4.2.2 The level of influence from influencers...31

4.3 Insect-based alternatives……….…...32

4.3.1 General attitude and perception...32

4.3.2 Motivators and inhibitors...33

4.3.3 Attitudinal change...33

4.3.4 Choice between insect-based alternatives and conventional meat products…..34

4.3.5 Choice between insect-based alternatives and plant-based alternatives...34

4.3.6 Preferred insect-based food...34

4.3.7 Integrated insect-based food analysis………...………..35

5. Conclusion...39

6. Discussion...41

6.1 Discussion of empirical findings...41

6.2 Practical implications...41

6.3 Limitation...43

6.4 Contribution and suggestion for future research...43

7. References...45

8. Appendices...61

Appendix 1 ...61

Appendix 2 ...62

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Definition of the key terms

This paper is written for students and professionals in Business Administration and Marketing, besides decision-makers in green food production companies. In order to give clarity to the audience and increase the readability of the paper, some important terms and expressions need to be defined and explained below.

Entomophagy

According to Orkusz et al. (2020), entomophagy is the intake of insects as food by humans.

Sustainable marketing

Sustainable marketing is defined as an activity to create and deliver a sustainable solution which has a greater net sustainable value that protects public welfare and the environment while meeting customers’ needs and desires and satisfying stakeholders at the same time (Charter et al., 2006; Mataracı & Kurtuluş, 2020). The aim of sustainable marketing is to influence consumer behaviour to be more sustainable to generate positive social and environmental change, which leads to achieving a long-term profit for firms (Gordon et al., 2011).

Green purchase behaviour

It refers to the behaviour of purchasing environmentally friendly products while avoiding products that negatively influence the environment (Chan, 2001).

Cognitive dissonance

Cognitive dissonance is explained as the state of psychological discomfort when an individual holds two or more relevant cognitive elements, but one cognitive element does not follow logically from the other relevant cognitive element or stay inconsistent (Oshikaw, 1969).

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1. Introduction

This section will introduce the background of the research topic including emerging environmental and societal issues, plant-based diet, issues in a plant-based diet, and an overview of insect-based food. The problem and a discussion about the problem will follow. This is followed by the purpose of illustrating the importance of this research and research questions. Finally, a delimitation of this research will be presented.

1.1 Background

The environmental and climate issues have become rather prominent in recent years and they have only intensified over time. The food industry is one of the biggest contributors to the issues. According to Reisch et al. (2013), population growth and rising economic prosperity are expected to increase demand for food. Food consumption is associated with the bulk of global water use and is responsible for the generation of approximately one-fifth of greenhouse-gas emissions.

Aside from environmental issues, population growth is also to blame in terms of societal issues like food poverty. Approximately 800 million people globally suffer from hunger and underconsumption of food, and a lack of access to safe and sufficient drinking water remains a pressing issue (Reisch et al., 2013). It is stated that western diets are characterized by a high intake of animal products, which leads to an intake of saturated fats and red meats that is above dietary recommendations. The consumption of meat, dairy and eggs is increasing worldwide, which will aggravate the environmental impact related to livestock production (Westhoek et al., 2014). Thus, it is critical to promote a major shift towards an alternative diet not only for the environment but also for the food shortage.

Ostfeld (2017) described a plant-based diet as a diet that consists of minimally processed fruits, vegetables, whole grain, legumes, nuts, seeds, herbs, and spices and excludes all animal products, including red meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy products. According to Aschemann-Witzel et al. (2020), the same amount of agricultural land used for the

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production of a given amount of meat and by-products could be used more efficiently for producing up to 10 times more plant protein; a difference that could potentially feed 10 to 20 times more people. Diets that shift the focus away from meat have been found to have a lower environmental impact. The trend of a plant-based diet has developed rapidly in recent years due to the increasing global protein demand and sustainability-related advantages. Consumers have also started to convert to a more plant-based diet because it is free from additives and can rid consumers of environmental concerns (Aschemann-Witzel et al., 2020).

Despite the fact that the plant-based diet is well received among consumers, there are barriers that keep consumers from purchasing plant-based food products. As stated in Pasi et al. (2015), the refusal to change one’s eating habits, the nutritional necessity of meat, the effect of the social environment, the lack of knowledge about vegetarian diets and the limited option of vegetarian foods outside the home have been acknowledged as major barriers. Lea et al. (2006) also argued that barriers to consuming a plant-based diet are more related to lack of dietary information, lack of desire of self or family to alter current diet and lack of options when eating out than to intrinsic concerns.

Similarly, insect-based food also serves a greener purpose and the term entomophagy has been brought to people’s attention in recent years. Entomophagy, though seems to be a rather unfamiliar term for many people, has actually been existent for a long. According to Evans et al. (2015), the first time that entomophagy was mentioned in 1871 and the term itself continues to appear in roughly the same period. Later on, from the late 20 century to the early 21st century, an abundance of articles have also mentioned the term entomophagy, using the consumption of insects as the definition with a slight distinction. Notably, the term nowadays has been gradually leaning towards a more human-related term (Evans et al., 2015).

Eating an insect is not uncommon practice as a wide range of insects are consumed worldwide. For example, people in Thailand consider insects as a staple in their diet and insect consumption even helps alleviate the crop pest problem. Moreover, in Africa and South America, consuming insects is a prevailing trend (Dobermann et al., 2017). The benefits of consuming insects usually concern the nutritional and environmental aspect.

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Despite the fact that the suitability of insect protein for human remains to be seen, edible insects have been proven to be rich in essential nutrients like protein and fat (Dobermann et al., 2017). In addition to the great nutritional value, insects are also advantageous in reducing the environmental impact. The protein insects provide for human consumption can reduce the demand for livestock production, which leads to increased conversion efficiency and reduced carbon footprint of livestock (Yen, 2009). The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations took an initiative to create a policy and proposed the programme of feeding people with alternative sources including insects (FAO, 2010). Therefore, it is reasonable to predict that insect-based food has a promising future on the market.

1.2 Problem discussion

The majority of young Swedish consumers describe themselves to be highly environmentally conscious and have an interest in purchasing green products or products that cause less harm to the environment. The research from Ungdomsbarometern (2019) indicated that Swedish young adults are highly concerned about the sustainability of their future and the well-being of the environment for an upcoming new generation. The research also showed these environmental aspects are critical parts of the decision-making process in Swedish young adults and they have a high positive attitude to learn more.

Van Huis (2013) proposed that changing some parts of daily diet to insect-based food can be a possible solution to the environmental issues and unmet food demand caused by a growing population. Van Huis (2013) also argued that entomophagy is not a novel concept and it has been a part of a culture, especially in Asian countries. As well as Lensvelt and Steenbekkers (2014), Van Huis (2013) argued that consuming insects as a part of a daily meal can provide multiple benefits to humans and the environment as insects contain more protein and require fewer resources to harvest compared to livestock. In addition, a Swedish student master thesis suggested a possible future opportunity to feed an edible insect with inhouse food waste, which could reduce the amount of inhouse food waste while farming edible insects next to or inside a grocery store (Ingvarsson, 2018).

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Despite all the potentials of consuming insects, Looy and Wood (2006) stated that consuming insects is still uncommon in most European countries. Looy and Wood (2006) further explained that this phenomenon is attributed to the fact that insects have not been regarded as food in the western world. Ingvarsson (2018) and Nyberg et al. (2020) showed that European legislation and policy have been the main barriers to producing and selling insect-based food in some European countries, Nordic countries in particular. Hence, they asserted it is crucial that legislation and policy of novel food should be amended as the change can increase general acceptance of insects as food.

While legislation and policy have been described as the main inhibitors for insect-based food in Europe, the European Food Safety Authority approved that mealworms are safe for human consumption in 2021 (EFSA NDA Panel et al., 2021). Ledsom (2021) stated this approval allowed food producers to sell insects as food, indicating food retailers can sell insect-based food similar to other alternative food. Moreover, it is predicted that consumers would see insect-based foods on a menu at restaurants and bars in the near future due to this approval. Although an insect-related business might seem novel to Nordic countries, Sousa (2021) mentioned that a researcher predicted the insect-farming business would exceed $4.1 billion by 2025 and the approval is expected to influence the number positively, while investment opportunity of plant-based alternative meat is around $1.3 billion in 2020 (Ledsom, 2021).

Ledsom (2021) estimated other species of an insect will be approved soon as well, which would increase the variety of insect-based food products. As the result of increased production and more competition in the market, Berg et al. (2017) and Pippinato et al. (2020) predicted the price of insect-based food would significantly decrease and be almost the same as the price of the fish meal due to its unique characteristics that require a small amount of resources to be produced. On the contrary, the price of conventional meat is predicted to increase significantly due to its excessive demand, high production costs, and the substantial negative impact on the environment (Jarosz, 2009).

A student thesis conducted on young Swedish consumer’s green purchasing behaviour pointed out that there exists a gap between green purchasing intent and actual purchase behaviour in the food industry (Gustafsson et al., 2019). The thesis concluded the major

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factors that caused the cognitive dissonance were the lack of knowledge, a low level of trust in the information directly coming from companies, and the high price of green products. The high price has appeared in multiple types of research about green consumer behaviour as one of the main inhibitors and a major challenge for sustainable marketers. This is because socio-ecologically conscious but the price-sensitive group is described to be the majority in the sustainable product market (Belz & Schmidt-Riediger, 2009). With the change in the policy and legislation in the European Union as well as the increasing affordability of insect food, it is feasible to close the gap between intent and behaviour and overcome the major cause of green consumers' cognitive dissonance in the food industry. However, regardless of its substantial benefits to health and the environment, Swedish consumers are identified to possess high neophobia and a negative attitude toward consuming the novel food (Andersson, 2020; Nyberg et al., 2020). This indicates that it is critical to change the consumer's attitude and behaviour towards consuming insects alongside the legislative change.

It is crucial for a green company to understand what inhibits local consumers from making purchase decisions. However, due to the newness of the topic, a limited amount of research has been conducted on how companies offer novel food should form a strategy to enter a market where consumers already have a negative perception towards the offering.

1.3 Purpose and Research Question

The purpose of this research is to find out what the main inhibitors and promoters are for young Swedish consumers who are highly concerned about the environment and sustainability to consume insect-based food.

The understanding of the barriers and the causes of cognitive dissonance would provide practical insights for a novel food company that offers insect-based food outside of Sweden to form an effective marketing entry strategy that can influence consumer’s attitude and behaviour in the Swedish market. Thus, it is vital for a novel food company that offers insect-based food to understand inhibitors. The following research questions are formulated and this paper attempts to provide the answers to the questions at the end.

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1. What are main inhibitors and enhancers for young Swedish consumers for purchasing

insect-based food?

2. How should novel companies that offer insect-based food enter the Swedish food market?

1.4 Delimitations

This research is geographically limited to Jönköping and Stockholm. Hence, this research does not intend to represent all young Swedish consumers. In addition, as this research demography focuses on young adults, the age of the subjects in this research is limited to 20-40.

Furthermore, this research focuses on industry and consumer behaviour, not a particular private company. Therefore, this research does not intend to provide any suggestions for a particular private company more than the understanding of the Swedish market and consumer to give a strategic recommendation to a company in the novel food industry that deliberates to enter the Swedish market.

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2. Frame of Reference

This chapter comprises the literature review and relevant theories in this research. The frame of reference is broken down into four sections and each concerns a particular field of study. The first section provides an overview of the food industry and introduces the benefits and challenges of plant-based food. The second section looks into consumer decision making as well as the diffusion of innovation theory. The third section describes the potential of insect food and consumer attitudes towards it. The last section thoroughly discusses the marketing mix and presents several marketing strategies that are relevant to this research.

2.1 Literature search

The literature search is paramount because it enables researchers to identify research gaps and design the data collection techniques that are most suited to the research topic (Hart, 2004). After formulating the research question, the authors conducted a literature search in order to identify the research gap in the existing literature. The scale of literature search covers databases Primo and Google scholar. The keywords in the literature search were: the food industry, insect-based food, consumer decision making, diffusion of innovation, sustainability and marketing. In order to ensure the credibility of sources, only peer-reviewed articles were chosen in this literature review and journals from the ABS lists. 2.2 The food industry

2.2.1 More innovation in the food industry

Two major issues a food industry faces increase the trends in innovation in the food industry. While the food industry is a vital economical factor at a national and global level, multiple studies show the different negative impact of the food industry on the environment throughout its production and consumption (Pagotto & Halog, 2015). Rojas-Downing et al. (2017) suggested the low sustainability of the livestock industry among the food industry as it is one of the biggest contributors to global green gas emission.

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Rojas-Downing et al. (2017) further stated the climate change triggered by the green gas emission emitted through livestock production can increase the instability of the livestock market. Cordell et al. (2009) alerted high dependency on one resource for current food production and insufficiency to meet growing projected food demand in the future, where food production needs to be increased by 70% by 2050 (Gouel & Guimbard, 2018). These two factors put pressure on food companies to meet projected future global food demand and to reduce environmental burdens at the same time (Pagotto & Halog, 2015; Rojas-Downing et al., 2017). This incompatible demand from the market and consumers increase the investments in R&D within food companies, which leads to facilitate the trend of green innovation in the food industry (Bigliardi & Galati, 2013; Dangelico et al., 2019). Despite the cost caused by the green innovation, Dangelico et al. (2019) highlighted the multiple potential benefits to food companies from the successful green innovation.

2.2.2 Plant-based meat alternatives

Historically, the concept of extracting protein from a plant to produce meat substitutes has been discussed since 1888 (Lee et al., 2020). A plant-based meat alternative product was initially introduced and accepted exclusively by vegetarians due to the consumer’s concern for the environment and animal welfare. However, with the technological improvements used in the production process, plant-based meat alternative production companies now focus on attracting and targeting flexitarian and conventional meat-eaters with meat-like texture and high nutrition value (He et al., 2020). Reipurth et al. (2019) further described replacing conventional meat consumption with a plant-based alternative product is beneficial not only to the environment but also to human health. This explains the growing trends and market size globally, as plant-based meat alternative market size is estimated to exceed $21.23 billion dollars by 2025 (Lee et al., 2020).

Despite the market increase, Hoek et al. (2011) showed a low decrease in overall conventional meat consumption globally. Multiple research highlighted low consumer acceptance of plant-based meat substitutes and unwillingness to try. He et al. (2020) and Hoek et al. (2011) asserted insufficient information and price expensiveness compared to

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conventional meat products negatively affect consumers’ motivation and attitude towards plant-based meat substitutes, which subsequently contributed to the low acceptance. Hoek et al. (2011) further suggested the benefits that fit different usage segments and outweigh the barriers that need to be communicated to facilitate meat-substitute consumption. 2.3 Consumer behaviour

2.3.1 Consumer decision-making process

Consumer decision making is an intricate process and it plays a significant role in purchasing behaviour. According to Bettman et al. (1991), the difficulty of making a decision does not only originate from the task itself, but it is also heavily influenced by the information provided. Essentially, the information can be categorized into two types: the information available in the consumer’s memory and the information from the external environment. These two types of information result in different decisions. For instance, a stimulus-based decision is made with the availability of external information, whereas the memory-based decision is dependent on the information in one’s memory. Bettman et al. (1991) further discussed other potential factors that characterize consumer decision making such as individual differences, social context and importance of tasks. In the research conducted by Mowen (1998), it is argued that consumer decision-making moves through a set of stages, including problem recognition, information search, alternative evaluation, choice and post-purchase evaluation, which is a relatively holistic way of viewing the decision-making process. However, this five-stage decision-making process is not applicable in all cases. It is apparent that many purchase decisions nowadays are highly habitual and routine. Purchasing low-priced fast consumer goods usually has a shorter process and requires little effort in external search or alternative evaluation. Therefore, it is rather challenging for novel products or new brands as it requires more extensive information search prior to the purchasing decision. In this case, marketers would have to use intensive advertising or other means to elicit consumers’ interest in new alternatives (Stankevich, 2017).

Aside from the five stages of decision-making that have been intensively studied, Hansen (2005) proposed three perspectives in relation to consumer decision making, which are

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value, information and emotion. Value perspective deals with the consistency between the money given and the quality received. The information perspective emphasizes that consumers have limited capacity for information processing and thus high-priced products require higher information involvement. The emotional perspective is related to the impact of an individual's feeling on purchasing decisions.

2.3.2 Diffusion of innovation

Diffusion of innovation theory proposed by Rogers (1995) described diffusion as a special type of communication and its process conveys the message about new ideas. This theory has been applied to many research fields and was also used in the context of entomophagy, aiming to examine entomophagy as innovation and demystify the reluctance towards insect-based food in western society (Shelomi, 2015). Essentially, the diffusion of innovation comprises four elements: Innovation, communication channels, time and social systems.

The innovation element, in particular, possesses multiple characteristics that are highly relevant to entomophagy: relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability. Each of the characteristics was carefully discussed and addressed based upon its relation to entomophagy (Shelomi, 2015). According to Rogers (1995), the relative advantage is the degree to which an innovation is perceived as better than the idea it supersedes. The relative advantage can be measured in multiple aspects and the measuring scale goes beyond economic and ecological terms. In the case of entomophagy, the relative advantage is not as prominent as non-animal diets or nose-to-tail movement (eating offals) since these alternatives are relatively more sustainable and have a higher relative advantage. Moreover, it is notable that most insect-based food is meant for animals and has a higher price, which adds to the disadvantage in the market (Shelomi, 2015).

Compatibility requires the innovation to be consistent with existing values, past experiences and needs of potential adopters (Rogers, 1995). The existing values towards insects are possible to be changed. However, past experiences can deter consumers from purchasing insect food as the stigma related to the physical appearance of insects can

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hardly be eliminated. In terms of the need, the Westerners are surely not short of cheap protein alternatives. Therefore, there might be little need for insect food and it is likely to fall into the novel food category (Shelomi, 2015).

Complexity deals with the difficulty to understand and use innovation (Rogers, 1995). Despite the low availability of relevant recipes. The insect food is fairly easy to cook and can be incorporated into recipes as it can be cooked in many ways just like regular animal meat (Shelomi, 2015). It is argued in Rogers (1995) that trialability is the degree to which an innovation can be experimented with on a limited basis. As for entomophagy, hosting events where consumers are able to taste insects themselves would contribute to higher adoption. However, the opportunity of trying insect food is still rather limited and the sources of insects are expensive, which can be an impediment to adopting insect food in the Western market. Therefore, in order to boost trialability, companies that offer insect food would have to increase insect food availability in grocery stores (Shelomi, 2015). The last characteristic is observability, which refers to the degree to which the results of an innovation are visible to others. The likelihood of adoption increases if consumers can easily see the result of an innovation (Rogers, 1995). If the result of entomophagy is to promote sustainability, then the observability will be relatively low as it serves the same purpose as other green alternative food. Instead, entomophagy should be publicized in a way that every consumer thinks it is actually doable and even enjoyable. For example, simply selling more insect food in grocery stores would increase visibility and thus convince more consumers to adopt insect food in their diet (Shelomi, 2015).

2.4 Insect-based diet

2.4.1 Insect-based food potential and sustainability

Insect-based food has garnered much attention recently on account of its rich protein and high sustainability despite its relatively low general acceptance in the West (Tan et al., 2015). While insect-eating is still perceived as uncouth and unhealthy by the vast majority, insect-based food is proven to have its superiority. According to Premalatha et al. (2011), the level of proteins and fats in the insect species is generally high, above those of traditional sources of protein such as meat, dairy products and some seeds. In addition,

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the amount of minerals and vitamins that insect-based food contains are at a high level. Aside from its well-known nutritive value, insects spend far less food energy and nutrients than other livestock do. In the research conducted by Huis and Oonincx (2017), a comparison was made to demonstrate the high production efficiency of an insect. A gram of edible protein from beef requires 8–14 times as much land and approximately five times as much water compared to mealworms. In terms of greenhouse gas, it is worth noting that beef cattle emit 6–13 times more CO2 equivalents, when compared to mealworms on an edible protein basis. Besides, insects have a much higher fecundity and a much faster growth rate. Therefore, once the appropriate insect species are incorporated into the food alternatives, the utilization efficiency of the incoming energy can be improved (Premalatha et al., 2011). Premalatha et al. (2011) also argued that the production of insects can provide animal proteins for human consumption indirectly as livestock feed. This macro-livestock production reduces energy consumption and thus leads to smaller environmental damage.

2.4.2 Consumer attitude towards insect-based food

The insects are rarely associated with edible food. Particularly in Western society, people tend to relate insects to something extremely unpleasant and filthy (Hartmann et al., 2015). The general negative attitude towards insect-based food can be ascribed to food neophobia, which is largely centred on the fear of negative sensory experience (Megido et al., 2016). Moreover, Looy et al. (2014) argued that the abnormality of insects sizes, shapes and movement in humans’ perception might be the source of anxiety towards insect-eating. Research conducted by Cicatiello et al. (2016) found out that in Italy, appearance was rated as the biggest barrier to insect consumption and also respondents showed great uncertainty regarding the safety of eating insects.

The resistance to insect-based food is not just a matter of personal dietary preference, rather, it concerns global food availability and cross-cultural relationships. The nutritive and sustainability value of insects are often overlooked, which could lead to the loss of food alternatives and also jeopardizes the possibility of cultivating insects as sources of food. Furthermore, as the vast majority of consumers in the West find insects repulsive as food, this Western cultural mindset is likely to place pressure on other regions with

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local knowledge on eating insects and reduce the availability of local species that can be used as meat substitutes. Therefore, it is crucial to change the negative perception in the West. In order to do so, normalization is claimed to be a key as the current notion of insect food still dwells on novelty. Moreover, pertinent food safety policies are to be developed and different means of marketing would have to be utilized as well (Looy et al., 2014). While insect aversion remains a prominent phenomenon throughout the West, some Asian countries seem to have a different view on insect consumption. According to Hartmann et al. (2015), China has a long history of eating insects and insects are deeply rooted in their culinary tradition. Despite the global change in dietary habits, insect consumption is still prevalent in China and insects will continue to be consumed in many different regions (Feng et al., 2018). In addition, countries like Laos and Thailand have a large number of insect consumers and various types of insects are frequently consumed (Raheem et al., 2018).

2.5 Marketing

2.5.1 Marketing mix in international marketing

Despite the growing trend of globalization, there has been a debate on whether a firm should standardize or adapt its marketing mix strategy (Product, Price Place, and Promotion) in a foreign market (Constantinides, 2006; Theodosiou & Leonidou, 2003). The foundation of the standardization approach is to view the global market and customer preferences as one single market and homogeneous, regardless of cultural differences. Thus, Kustin (2004) and Levitt (1983) stated that a global company that adopts a standardization approach in a global market can represent a consistent brand image and decrease marketing-related costs through economy of scale.

On the other hand, research on the adaptation approach challenges the standardization of marketing mix by stating the differences in the market environment, culture, and consumer preference and needs are too big to be ignored (Vrontis et al., 2009). Therefore, Vrontis et al. (2009) described the necessity to tailor a marketing mix to meet the needs

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of targeted foreign markets. Whitelock and Pimblett (1997) asserted that the significant potential loss in long-term profit by failing to meet equine local needs. Moreover, Kustin (2004) indicated while standardization of marketing mix is applicable in the market of an intra-cultural country with a similar economy, adapting marketing mix to meet local customer needs can be more applicable in an inter-cultural country with a heterogeneous economy.

There is an ongoing debate on which strategy is superior and more effective, Theodosiou and Leonidou (2003) argued that what makes an effective international marketing strategy depends on the situation a firm faces within a particular foreign market at a specific timing, suggesting more room for flexibility in the strategic decision. Moreover, Vrontis et al. (2009) asserted the importance of finding the balance between standardization and adoption over time and matching to a circumstance in a market, instead of making the one-time absolute decision on either standardizing or adapting its marketing mix in a foreign market.

2.5.2 Green marketing and strategies

The aim of green marketing is to consider environmental issues in traditional marketing in order to meet the consumer's growing interest in the environment and greener products (Peattie & Crane, 2005; Rex & Baumann, 2007). Despite the growing potential of the green market described by Rex and Baumann (2007), Jill Meredith and Paul (2004) alerted that most companies’ current green marketing practice is not effective and does not translate consumer’s interest into action. Rex and Baumann (2007) highlighted this failure of green marketing attributes to the overuse of ecolabelling many companies solely rely on as the means of green marketing. Moreover, Rex and Baumann (2007) urged companies to find other strategic ways not only to take opportunities but also to create greater sustainability.

To tackle the challenge associated with green marketing, Jill Meredith and Paul (2004) developed the green marketing strategy matrix. The matrix consists of four strategies, which are lean, defensive, shaded, and extreme. A lean strategy focuses on reducing cost and improving efficiency, which leads to attaining a lower-cost advantage. Hence, the

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lean strategy involves only the product aspect. A defensive strategy aims to respond to external environments, such as competitors' action mainly by leveraging public relations. This strategy is suitable when competition in the market is clustered in terms of greenness. In the defensive strategy, promotion and product aspect are utilized. A shaded strategy focuses on developing an innovative product that creates a competitive advantage in the long term. In the promotion of shaded strategy, it puts more emphasis on product attributes that provide direct financial benefit to a customer rather than environmental benefit, therefore, price, promotion, and product element of the marketing mix are used in the shaded strategy. An extreme strategy aims to embody greenness in all the aspects of the marketing mix to tackle environmental issues. This strategy is described to be suitable in a niche market and limited distribution channels (Jill Meredith & Paul, 2004).

It is stated in Jill Meredith and Paul (2004) that there is no green marketing strategy that works for every company in every circumstance. Thus, it is important that companies should choose appropriate strategies depending on green market size and competitive conditions.

2.5.3 Influencer marketing on purchase decision

Previous research showed a significant increase in the use of influencer marketing as an opinion leader who possess previous experience and knowledge in a certain industry to alter consumer’s opinion and purchase behaviour mainly through social media channels (Chetioui et al., 2020; Martínez-López et al., 2020). A research conducted by Chetioui et al. (2020) concluded that consumer attitude towards a product and a brand, as well as purchase intention, can be greatly influenced by influencer marketing. Chetioui et al. (2020) also highlighted that influencer marketing differs from word of mouth marketing as marketers have more control and insight into the possible outcome of the marketing activities.

Martínez-López et al. (2020) stated that the increasing number of social media users, market potential and social media have become a critical part of consumer’s buying decision making process. Hence, it is stated that influencer marketing is becoming a more

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important tool for a marketer to facilitate a positive attitude and create desired consumer behaviour online. Moreover, Taylor (2020) showed a steady increasing trend to follow an influencer online among youth consumers and almost half of the millennials have previous experience of purchasing because of an influencer they follow.

However, Taylor (2020) argued that its low effectiveness compared to the effect of word of mouth from friends and family on consumer behaviour. Taylor (2020) further indicated the lack of research on influencer marketing and its effect on consumer purchase decision-making. Martínez-López et al. (2020) also argued that the negative effect on consumer and brand is caused by choosing an inappropriate influencer and having too much control on content and the influencer’s message.

2.5.4 Informative labelling to increase confidence

Vermeir and Verbeke (2006) suggested that labelling is an effective way to provide consumers with information and knowledge about a product as information and knowledge play vital roles for a new product to be adopted by an individual (Rogers, 2002). Vermeir and Verbeke (2006) stated the level of certainty formed by the amount of available reliable information about a product influences consumer purchase behaviour on a sustainable product.

As for the purchase decision process on a food product, quality and safety are described as critical central elements, which subsequently influences perceived risks and perception of the price (Grunert, 2005). Labelling can affect both quality and safety as it plays an important role in quality assurance and standards (Nilsson et al., 2004). Vermeir and Verbeke (2006) claimed that product labelling can address the credence of sustainability, which leads to increased consumer confidence in choice, and consumers tend to look for tangible cues to make purchase decisions.

However, Delmas and Burbano (2011) raised the issue of false misleading labelling because of greenwashing. Golan et al. (2001) and Nilsson et al. (2004) addressed the credibility and effectiveness of mandatory labelling on a food product. In addition, Vermeir and Verbeke (2006) asserted having too many labels and the low credibility of labels can negatively influence the consumer's purchase decision and perception.

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3. Methodology and method

This chapter consists of methodology and method. The methodology will discuss the research philosophy, research approach and strategy. The method section will present a series of processes that facilitates the ongoing research, including data collection, data analysis and data quality.

3.1 Research Philosophy

Research philosophy plays a crucial role in methodology because it helps determine the research methods as well as strategies to be used in a particular field of study. Besides, the knowledge of research philosophy facilitates the evaluation process. Therefore, researchers are able to adequately use research methods while avoiding excessive use and limitations of approaches. Lastly, with research philosophy, researchers can develop novel approaches that have never been used before (Easterby-Smith et al., 2001). According to Holden et al. (2004), the nature of science is one of the most essential dimensions in developing a philosophical perspective. Within the spectrum of science dimension, both subjective and objective approaches are relevant and they are associated with assumptions such as ontology, epistemology, human nature and methodology. In the case of this study, the research philosophy will centre on an epistemology stance as it is largely based on the knowledge factor. More specifically, the research will be conducted in a subjective approach because it facilitates the understanding of the social phenomenon and helps authors to gain knowledge pertaining to effectively market insect-based food. 3.2 Research approach

The research approach is crucial as it determines how the research should be conducted. The inductive approach is adopted in this research to facilitate qualitative study. According to Azungah (2018), the inductive approach concerns the use and analysis of the raw data to develop new theories and concepts. Azungah (2018) further argued that in terms of the inductive approach, the findings are generated from the analysis of raw

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data rather than prior expectations of models, despite the fact that findings can be influenced by the objectives of evaluation and questions formulated by researchers. In the case of this study, the inductive approach is suitable since it helps to identify new phenomena from the collected data, thus contributing to the development of new theories (Woo et al., 2017). This study aims to find out Swedish people’s general attitude towards insect-based food and provide suitable marketing plans based upon the results. In order to do so, a set of open-ended interview questions were formulated to gather information that allows more room for qualitative exploration (Woo et al., 2017). Furthermore, in the analysis stage, this study follows the inductive approach. Instead of dwelling on the existing theories to test hypotheses, the study focuses on addressing the problems and patterns identified in the data, which leads to a better understanding of research questions and helps enlighten researchers on new theories or strategies to solve the problems. 3.3 Research strategy

According to Khan (2014), qualitative research revolves around the observations and interpretations of people’s perception of difference and it is an inquiry process of understanding that explores human or societal problems. As previously stated, this study aims to gain a better understanding of Swedish people’s perception of insect food and provide feasible marketing strategies for novel food production companies. Therefore, the qualitative method would be the appropriate research strategy in this study. As an emerging market, the instruments designed in the insect-based food industry may differ from those in the developed markets. Thus, with a qualitative research strategy, the study is able to have more in-depth perspectives and an exploratory view of the research topic (Azungah, 2018).

In order to answer the research questions, semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions were conducted with the aim to understand the Swedish consumers’ perception of insect-based food and factors associated with the phenomenon (Khan, 2014). The interviewees are Swedish young adults in the age range of 20-40 as they are more concerned about the environment and more subjected to change parts of daily behaviour for the sustainable future. The interviews were designed in a way that interviewees are

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able to fully express their honest opinions, which enables richer and more complex information from an individual (Khan, 2014).

3.4 Method

3.4.1 Data collection

In this research, only primary data was collected due to the novelty of the topic and the limitation of existing studies on how to influence people’s attitude towards insect-based food. This research paper conducted semi-structured individual interviews as a method to collect primary qualitative data.

Doody and Noonan (2013) argued that interview is one of the most popular data collection methods in qualitative research. An individual interview can provide an individual’s valuable deeper insights, experience, and motivations on specific issues (Gill et al., 2008; Ryan et al., 2009). Gill et al. (2008) mentioned individual interview is a suitable method when more understanding of a given phenomenon and detailed individual insights are required. Gill et al. (2008) stated that focus group is also a common data collection method in qualitative research. While an individual interview focuses on individual experience and perception on a specific topic, the focus group provides a wider collective view of experience. Rabiee (2004) explained the primary purpose of a focus group is to understand cultures and beliefs that influence individual feelings and attitudes. Rabiee (2004) further stated that focus group is appropriate to delve into complex food choice behaviours shaped by lived experience and find a way to influence lifestyle behaviours and increase positive engagement. Thus, one could argue that focus group is more appropriate data collection method to this research topic than an individual interview. 3.4.2 Sampling method

As the aim of this research is to understand how to change the attitude of Swedish young adults, it would be impractical to carry out a census for this research question. Thus, it is necessary to design suitable sampling techniques and methods when selecting samples to conduct individual interviews from the entire population. In this research, non-probability sampling is preferred to probability sampling because the research question requires

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depth study of selected samples to answer and the inability to construct a sampling frame that all randomly selected samples have an equal statistical chance to be chosen from the population (Saunders et al., 2009).

For this study, the combination of snowballing sampling technique and selection technique are used to select interviewees in the non-probability sampling as this combined technique is the most appropriate to this research and situation where samples are not small, the size of the sample is not predetermined, and inability to physically ask individuals to participate the interview.

Hence, the first few interviewees were selected through the author’s personal contact and people who showed desire and willingness to take the interview from the post on the Internet. The criteria are people who reside in Sweden and are in the age range of 20-40 years old. The characteristics of all interviewees are shown in Appendix 1.

Some interviewees were asked to identify the next suitable samples and their contact details were given to authors to request the interview with their consent. This sequence was repeated until the answers to the questions became affluent enough to analyze. Although Robinson (2014) argued that the process of giving participants financial incentive to motivate the recruitment, no incentives were given to interviewees to identify potential participants in this research.

3.4.3 Composition of interview questions

There are three fundamental formats of interviews a researcher can choose from, which are structured, semi-structured, and unstructured (Gill et al., 2008).

In a structured interview, the same predetermined questions with the same wording using the same tone of voice in the same order are asked to all participants in the same way. Thus, it can minimize the researcher’s bias and increase time efficiency (Doody & Noonan, 2013, p. 29). Hence, a structured interview is often chosen to generate quantitative data (DiCicco-Bloom & Crabtree, 2006).

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On the contrary to a structured interview that limits the participants’ response and room for further in-depth elaboration, an unstructured interview starts with an open question regarding a topic and proceeds with following questions through observing the initial response. While unstructured interviews can collect participant’s significant in-depth qualitative data, it is time-consuming to conduct the interviews and process collected data. Moreover, an unstructured interview is difficult to manage as there is little guidance, this can lead to irreverent topics to questions and the field of study (Doody & Noonan, 2013; Gill et al., 2008).

A semi-structured interview consists of predetermined key open-ended questions with additional questions generated from the conversations during the interview, which contributes to an elaborate response and helps explore thoughts in depth (DiCicco-Bloom & Crabtree, 2006; Gill et al., 2008).

The semi-structured interview was chosen in this research in order to guide participants on what to talk about and pursue participant’s in-depth thoughts and interests in the field of the study (Doody & Noonan, 2013). Therefore, a series of open-ended and probing questions are used accordingly to gain relevant and in-depth data (Saunders et al., 2009). The questions are categorized into four main areas of topics. Even though Saunders et al. (2009) stated that a semi-structured interview is a flexible approach, broad and less sensitive questions are set to be asked first and probing questions follow depending on the response in each topic during the interviews (Doody & Noonan, 2013). The list of predetermined open-ended and probing questions is shown in Appendix 2

3.4.4 Empirical data collection

In this research, 13 interviews were conducted over an online video call by ZOOM. The online video call was considered to be the most suitable in this situation given the health concern. Interviewees who agreed to carry out the interview received the electrical invitation for the online video call from an interviewer after the date and time of the interviews were confirmed. Since all interviews were held in English which is the second language for both interviewees and interviewers, access to internet aids is given to both parties during the interview to minimize possible language barriers and

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misunderstandings. All interviews lasted for 30-40 minutes and were recorded upon the participant's consent. To create a setting that resembles a face to face interview environment, all participants were asked to turn their camera on and 12 out of 13 interviews were conducted with both parties’ camera on.

All interviews were carried out by one author for the availability reason and to eliminate possible external factors that influence participant answers. Before starting the interviews, a casual conversation was initiated and interviewees were recommended to have liquid refreshment to create a comfortable environment to discuss. During the interviews, a responsible author took the roles of asking questions and taking notes, which was important to choose probing and follow-up questions.

Prior to conducting the interviews, key questions were prepared and divided into three main areas. In every three focused areas, questions started with a general topic and shifted towards more specific and personal questions. The interviews were initiated by questions about sustainability and the environment. This was followed by questions concerned with consumer behaviour, and insect-based alternatives. Furthermore, concluding questions were asked at the end. It is important to mention that depending on interviewees responses and discussion to prior questions, some prepared questions were not asked and some unscripted follow-up questions were asked to clarify what has been said and elicit in-depth insights and motivations.

After the interviews, some interviewees were asked to identify one or two potential candidates for the next interview as this study uses a snowballing sampling technique for the sampling method.

3.4.5 Ethical consideration

Doody and Noonan (2013) highlighted the importance of considering ethical issues in conducting interviews. Gill et al. (2008) and Ryan et al. (2009) described anonymity and confidentiality as the utmost ethical principles of data collection, regardless of the collection technique. Participants are informed about the topic of the research and the format and the length of the interview before they agreed to take part. In addition, participants are asked once again if they still intend to take the interview or not and they

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are informed of the right to withdraw as a participant on a day before the scheduled interview date. Before conducting the interviews, obtaining the consent to record the interview was asked to each interviewee.

In order to ensure and maintain the confidentiality and anonymity of participants’ identity, their collected personal information is kept confidential and not identifiable throughout data processing. This is achieved by replacing participants' names with a simple alphabet when analyzing the data, such as participant “A”. Moreover, the recorded interviews are stored on a secured author’s computer and thoroughly deleted after the analysis.

Ryan et al. (2009) and Saunders et al. (2009) stated that sensitive issues can arise especially in face-to-face interviews. To reduce participants’ distress to answer questions, all participants are clearly informed about their right to refuse to answer any questions and discontinue the interview anytime without explanation before conducting the interviews. Moreover, no time limits are set during the interviews to make sure the interviewees have ample time to provide answers.

3.5 Quality of data

Ensuring the high validity and reliability of a collected primary data is a critical factor to improve the credibility and quality of this qualitative research (Seale, 1999).

According to Noble and Smith (2015), validity in qualitative research refers to “the

precision in which the findings accurately reflect the data” (p.34). Saunders et al. (2009)

described that validity examines the relationship between different variables. Thus, Golafshani (2003) stated that validity represents the trustworthiness of the research result. Although qualitative research is more subjected to researcher bias compared to quantitative research, understanding the potential threats to validity can contribute to choosing appropriate techniques that decrease the threats (Whittemore et al., 2001). Saunders et al. (2009) showed several threats, which are history, testing, instrumentation, mortality, maturation, and ambiguity about casual direction.

In addition to the threats, generalizability is described as a critical factor to determine the quality of research (Golafshani, 2003; Saunders et al., 2009). Generalizability is an

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external validity and the ability to generalize findings to other research settings. In the case of this qualitative study which does not have the intention to generalize the whole population, generalizability is analyzed to have little relevance to the quality of this research (Saunders et al., 2009). Saunders et al. (2009) also advocated the importance of logical steps. To ensure the validity of findings, the population was logically chosen and the population was covered by the chosen sample. In this study, the intended population is Swedish young adults whose age is from 20 to 40 and samples are logically selected. For the collected data to yield valid data logically, interviewees were asked to provide honest thoughts and opinions by informing anonymity of their answers. Moreover, for the logical data interruption, it is ensured the chosen theoretical framework is appropriate and logical.

Reliability is concerned with the consistency and repeatability of the analysis procedures including data collection techniques that can affect findings accurately (Noble and Smith, 2015; Saunders et al., 2009). Similar to validity, Saunders et al. (2009) showed four general threats to reliability which is the critical part of the trustworthiness of a study (Morse et al., 2002). The first threat is a subject or participant error. This threat indicates the participant bias and external factors that influence findings. In order to minimize this threat, interviewees were informed to sit alone and create a comfortable environment during the interviews. The second threat is participant bias. Participant bias concerns whether participants provide their true opinion and answers or they are saying what they feel forced to say due to insecurity and authority. As previously mentioned, all interviewees were informed about the anonymity of provided answers to questions before the interview to motivate them to provide their honest thoughts and true opinions (Saunders et al., 2009). The third threat is an observer error. Observer error is illustrated to occur when researchers use all different ways and approaches to ask questions for interviews. To minimize observer error, most of the interviews were conducted by the same author and questions are semi-structured in advance and asked in the same way which is done by revisiting a recorded previous interview. The last threat that needs to be considered is observer bias. The observer bias is identified when authors interpret the same data in different ways and values. To reduce the observer bias, in this research, all the collected primary data was first analyzed individually by each author. Afterwards, the

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two separate analyses were compared and unified after evaluation as the ultimate result of this research.

3.6 Data analysis

Burnard et al. (2008) stated that analyzing collected data in qualitative research is one of the most time consuming and baffling processes. Vaismoradi et al. (2013) advocated that researchers should choose an appropriate analytical approach. In this research, the most common method to analyze collected qualitative data was adopted, which is thematic content analysis. The selected method is believed to be suitable for this research as this study follows an inductive approach and the authors aim to attain a lower level of interpretation (Vaismoradi et al., 2013; Vaismoradi et al., 2016). In thematic analysis, the process involves the following steps (Burnard et al., 2008; Vaismoradi et al., 2013). The first step was to familiarize with the collected data. In order to do so, recorded interviews were revisited and transcribed. After familiarizing with the data, initial coding frameworks which can summarize what interviewees relevantly discussed in each question were created. The next step was to formulate broader categories based on a similar theme the set of initial coding frameworks share. This step also involved reviewing and refining the name of categories to eliminate duplications and reduce the number of similar categories, which helped to find the pattern in collected data. Key findings under each main category were presented in a logical way as the final step in the thematic analysis method.

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4. Empirical findings and analysis

This section presents the empirical findings that were gathered from the interviews. The empirical findings are divided into four parts in accordance with the interview questions. The analysis is also presented in this section, aiming to have a better understanding of the findings with the use of the theoretical framework.

4.1 Sustainability and food choice

4.1.1 Awareness and daily actions

All interviewees expressed medium to high concern about the current environmental issues and sustainability. Moreover, they expressed interest in at least one particular topic within the field of the environment and sustainability, regardless of their age, gender, and occupation. In addition, the majority of interviewees called the notion of further actions for the environmental problems as a group.

However, when the interviewees were asked to provide a few examples of their daily actions to the environmental issue they are particularly interested in, some participants who had little information about the individual impact on the environment and did not regard the environmental issues as individual problem acknowledged low level of daily initiatives and expressed unwillingness to change their daily behaviour merely for the environment, despite the awareness for the environmental crisis.

4.1.2 The environmental impact of food choice

When interviewees were asked about the influence on the environment by their daily diet consumption, the majority of interviewees were able to reflect the consequences of their daily diet to the environment.

“I always tried to buy locally produced food, even though it is a little bit more pricey” “I do not eat for the environment.”

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This indicated many of the interviewees thought they understood the environmental consequence of what they chose to eat and were willing to accept the consequence either negative or positive. Only two interviewees considered their environmental impact were negative, implying most of the interviewees predicted their environmental impact through their daily diet behaviour were positive or the same as others who are in the same situation by consuming less or locally produced meat. It was observed most of the interviewees reflected the level of their conventional meat consumption to subjectively evaluate the environmental impact of their daily diet behaviour is either positive or negative.

“I feel positive because I tried to buy domestically produced meat and eco-labelled vegetables whenever I can”

“Even though I am becoming vegetarian, I do not think the impact on the environment through my daily diet can never be positive since I need to consume to live and most of the products like eco-labelled vegetables are wrapped in plastic.”

4.1.3 The environmental impact of meat substitutes products

Regardless of their assumption about the environmental impact through daily diet behaviour, the majority of the interviewees did not have enough information about the environmental impact caused by consuming conventional meat and the environmental benefit of choosing meat substitutes. However, most of the interviewees perceived meat substitute products are somehow better for the environment compared to conventional meat in general.

“I heard choosing a meat substitute product can make a significant impact on the environment, and that is the main reason for consuming less meat.”

4.1.4 Drivers and inhibitors of meat substitutes

As the result of the interviews, almost all interviewees had previous experience with some kinds of meat substitutes. The interviewees recalled they were either motivated by their own belief and interest or personal connection (friends and family) to try meat substitute products.

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The majority of interviews who have tried meat substitute products mentioned they still occasionally enjoy eating conventional meat. They expressed a strong taste preference for conventional meat products and less processed food. One further argued against the concept of meat replacement.

“I have tried plant-based meat substitutes products, it was not as bad as I thought. But, it is not the same as real meat.”

However, the majority of flexitarians showed the willingness to switch their diet to be vegetarian if the taste and texture of the meat substitutes improves. These interviewees value the quality of the product and availability over price. The majority of interviewees who have tried a meat substitute product placed perception/social image as the least important feature of meat substitutes. Thus, it was observed they did not care how others think when they choose to consume meat substitutes products.

“I don’t mind completely switching to meat substitutes if it is better for the environment and tastes the same as conventional meat.”

“Even though my parents still eat meat, I do not care how they see me eating plant-based meat substitutes products.”

The above empirical finding suggests that all interviewees were concerned about the current environmental issues and possessed a certain degree of knowledge about sustainability. In addition, in line with their high level of attitude and concern, all the interviewees took a different level of individual initiative to minimize the environmental impact on a daily basis, such as recycling. However, when it comes to daily food diet which has one of the biggest impacts on the environment (Pagotto & Halog, 2015), most of the interviewees’ knowledge and information were insufficient to subjectively measure the environmental impact of their food behaviour. Moreover, some even showed unwillingness to change their daily diet behaviour for the environment. Although the majority of the interviewees referred to their meat consumption to analyze their environmental impact, they had limited information about the unsustainability of the livestock industry described by Rojas-Downing et al. (2017). Thus, it is analyzed that the inconsistency in their food behaviour and environmental concern was mainly caused by

References

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