Fatores motivacionais para a redução do consumo de carne em Portugal

Abstract

Over the past few decades, meat consumption has increased worldwide. In developed countries, meat consumption exceeds expert recommendations. This excessive consumption has raised questions about environmental sustainability, health, and ethics, and the importance of slowing down this consumption is now recognised. Eating behaviour is a complex issue and people choose to eat or not to eat meat for different reasons. Understanding the reasons behind these decisions is fundamental to developing strategies that promote the reduction of meat consumption in a population. This work aims to explore the factors driving the reduction of meat consumption by the Portuguese, considering social norms, environmental concerns, health benefits, and perceived barriers, to develop effective strategies to promote this dietary transition in the population. To this end, a survey was administered to a sample of 283 Portuguese citizens, and the collected data was processed using structural equation modeling. It was concluded that social norms, environmental concerns, health benefits and perceived barriers have a significant impact on intentions to reduce meat consumption. However, only health benefits and perceived barriers significantly predict positive attitudes towards meat reduction. Furthermore, it was found that attitudes do not significantly influence reduction intentions. In general, the examined factors explain intentions to reduce meat consumption better than attitudes. This study has provided important insights about Portuguese consumers for the development of future strategies to reduce meat consumption, suggesting the need for comprehensive approaches that consider different factors to effectively promote changes in their eating behaviour.

Date of Award	24 Jul 2024
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Sandra Lima Coelho (Supervisor) & Carla Martins (Co-Supervisor)