The Case Of Meat- Utilitarian Benefits And Identification

Explores associations among food’s utilitarian benefits, the human values symbolized by meat, individuals’ endorsement of those values, and individuals’ identification with meat, attitudes, and consumption habits.

Earlier studies showed that participates viewed meat, in particular red meat, as a symbol of “inequality” and “hierarchy values” more than other foods.

The results of Study 1 of this research suggest that identification of meat may be formed partially from “a match between the individual’s hierarchy and inequality values and the hierarchy and inequality values symbolized by red meat in particular.” In addition, “once meat identity is formed, the application of human value preferences appears more important to meat selection and consumption than meat’s nutritional benefits.” Studies 1 and 2 together demonstrate that individuals who are less concerned with a food’s nutrition and who have strong meat identification have the greatest meat consumption, and that those who “endorse hierarchy and inequality and who have strong meat identification have the most favorable meat attitudes and the greatest meat consumption.

Study 3 of this research showed that knowledge of the nutritional deficiencies of meat did not alter the meat attitudes of high meat identifiers or those who had a predisposition to attend to the symbolic meaning of meat.