Consumer Categorization Of Animal And Plant-Based Protein
Many people, regardless of their diet, are choosing to reduce animal products. Because of this, it’s important for grocery stores to understand how consumers categorize plant-based proteins. This can help store managers understand how to arrange food aisles, set up product displays, and describe the items for sale.
In this study, researchers asked Dutch consumers that self-identified as omnivores, flexitarians, vegetarians, and vegans to categorize eighty products, including plant-based alternatives, animal proteins, and common supermarket purchases such as potato chips and vegetables. Participants were asked to sort the products into as many piles as they considered relevant to classify the items. The first part of the study was an online sorting task with a follow-up interview; the second part of the study used physical cards instead of online sorting.
The authors note that consumers typically categorize products in two ways. Taxonomic categorization is based on origin, appearance, and structure. For example, chicken, pork, and beef might be categorized as animal proteins, while beans and nuts would fall under plant-based products. Conversely, goal-derived categorization means classifying products based on how you use them, such as classifying nuts as a snack, a source of protein, or a cooking ingredient.
The study showed that omnivores, flexitarians, vegans, and vegetarians all primarily used taxonomic categorization, although most consumers were able to use both classification types. Although veg*ns are presumably more likely to be aware that nuts are a protein source, they still tended to classify nuts as “vegetables” or “other” instead of with other plant-based proteins.
Flexitarians typically made fewer categories than members of other dietary groups, which suggests that they struggle to define certain types of food. While veg*ns can dismiss animal-derived meat and omnivores often dismiss plant-based meat, the authors point out that flexitarians must understand both kinds of food. Arguably, this makes their categorization task more complicated. What’s more, flexitarians were the least likely to categorize food based on the system used in their supermarkets, suggesting that grocery stores may not be meeting flexitarians’ needs.
Flexitarians, vegetarians, and vegans quickly separated animal-derived meat and plant-based meat while omnivores did not segregate the two groups until later in the sorting process. The researchers argue that omnivores don’t eat plant-based meat, so the distinction between plant-based and animal-based meat is less relevant to them.
Hybrid meat products, which consist of 50% animal meat and 50% plant-derived proteins, are often targeted at flexitarians. While flexitarians in the preliminary study classified hybrid meat as animal meat, those in the larger follow-up study classified it as a plant-based meat alternative. The authors point out that flexitarians may not consistently classify hybrid meat one way or the other; since they don’t know whether it will help them meet their dietary goals, they may avoid it altogether.
Meanwhile, vegans were the only group that separated animal-derived dairy products from plant-based dairy products. Non-vegans seemed to see the source of dairy as a less relevant category — in follow-up interviews, many explained that animal-derived dairy doesn’t cost animal lives and is therefore less important to distinguish from animal-free options. Finally, none of the four groups classified nuts and beans as a plant-based protein.
The authors acknowledge that the eighty products sampled in this study were a small fraction of the tens of thousands of different products offered by supermarkets. It is possible that the specific items chosen might have affected the categories that people created. In the supermarket, they might also use different categories.
Flexitarians may benefit from targeted marketing for plant-based food, such as recipes or free trials. If retailers placed plant-based meat alternatives next to animal-derived meat, consumers might realize more easily that they could use either to achieve their dietary goals. However, some vegan respondents said they objected to seeing meat when they shopped for plant-based meat alternatives, so that decision may be controversial. Finally, it seems that many consumers (even veg*n ones) don’t think of nuts and beans as a protein source. Awareness campaigns can be used to correct this perception.