Introduction: Meat attachment, a positive emotional bond with meat, is a critical psychological determinant of meat consumption and might be a significant obstacle to adopting plant-based foods. Although food liking is often considered important for food choice, the role meat liking plays in the association between meat attachment and meat and plant-based food consumption remains unknown.
Hypotheses: 1) meat attachment is positive correlated with meat consumption 2) Meat liking mediates a positive association between meat attachment and meat consumption 3) Meat attachment is negative correlated with plant-based food consumption 4) Plant liking mediates and moderated a negative association between meat attachment and plant-based food consumption.
Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was completed by 180 community-dwelling Australians aged 50–75 years (57.9 ± 6.1 years, 53.3% female). The survey included a modified Meat Attachment Questionnaire (MAQ), a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), and a Food Liking Questionnaire (FLQ).
Results: The overall meat attachment score and all its subscales (Hedonism, Affinity, Dependence, and Entitlement) showed positive correlations with meat consumption (r = .45–.55, all p's < .01), accounting for 30.6% of the variance in meat consumption patterns among participants (R² = .306, p < .001). Meat liking and consumption were positively correlated (r = .39, p < .01). Meat attachment significantly predicted meat liking (Path a: b = 1.14, p < .001). However, when controlling for meat attachment, meat liking did not significantly predict meat consumption (Path b: b = 0.41, p = .526), suggesting that meat liking did not mediate the relationship between meat attachment and meat consumption.
Meat attachment and its subscales were negatively associated with plant-based food consumption (r = –.45 to –.55, all p’s < .01), explaining 30.0% of the variance in plant-food intake (R² = .300, p < .001). Meat attachment was also negatively associated with plant liking (r = –.18 to –.32, all p's < .05) and plant consumption (r = –.45 to –.55, all p's < .01). Higher plant liking was positively correlated with greater plant consumption (r = .35, p < .01). In mediation testing, meat attachment significantly predicted lower plant liking (Path a: b = –0.24, p < .001). Higher liking for plant-food predicted higher plant-food consumption (Path b: b = 3.25, p = .001). The interaction between meat attachment and plant liking was not significant (b = 0.39, p = .679), indicating no moderation effect.
Conclusion: For older Australians, meat attachment is an important predictor of meat consumption, which can be explained by other factors beside liking for meat. Such attachment to meat also impacts plant-based food consumption which suggests that public health initiatives which promote plant-based food consumption, also need to look at lowering consumer’s attachment to meat.