Eating a plant-based burger makes me feel proud and cool: An online survey on food-evoked emotions of plant-based meat

Positive emotions are critical for the success of food products in the marketplace. Yet, little is known about the emotional response to plant-based meat alternatives. This study investigated food-evoked emotions of plant-based burgers and meat burgers, and their associations with liking and choice for either of the burgers. In an online survey, 279 Dutch adults (meat eaters and flexitarians) were shown pictures of a plant-based burger and a meat burger in random order. They were asked to imagine eating the burgers, and then to rate the expected experience of 13 food-evoked emotions and liking for each burger on a 7-point Likert scale. Participants also had to indicate which of the two burgers they would choose to eat. Results showed that participants expected to feel more ‘proud’ and ‘cool’ and less ‘guilty’ and ‘worried’ when eating a plant-based burger compared to a meat burger (p < 0.05). In contrast, they expected to feel more ‘happy’ and less ‘bored’ when eating a meat burger (p < 0.05). Anticipated emotions ‘satisfied’ (B = 0.30), ‘anxious’ (B = 0.22) and ‘worried’ (B = −0.30) were significantly related to the expected liking of the plant-based burger; choosing a plant-based burger was mainly influenced by being flexitarian (B = 0.28) (all p < 0.05). This study provided valuable new insights in the anticipated emotional response to plant-based and meat burgers and identified potential emotional targets to encourage people to switch meat for plant-based alternatives. Future research should investigate whether (interventions to reinforce) anticipated food-evoked emotions impact actual food choice behaviour and liking of plant-based meat alternatives.