Final Research Proposal

Research Proposal

Michelle Duga

New England College of Business

MGM301- Research Methods

8/23/15

Background

According to the National Chicken Council (NCC), the per capita consumption of meat in the United States has been steadily declining since 2007, while the sales of meat alternative products have climbed by 8% between 2010 and 2012 alone (U.S. Mintel Group Ltd., 2013).  In fact, a survey data published in 2013 by the U.S. Mintel Group Ltd. (2013) revealed “that more than a third (36%) of consumers use meat alternatives; those in the 18–24 age range have the highest usage rate [of] 46%, followed by those aged 25–34 with a usage level of 43%.” Research, development, and venture capital funds are in high demand for this exciting new area of sustainable food for consumers. Consumer demands for products which are sustainable, free of GMO’s, and provide benefits for overall health, are currently at an all-time high. The question this study will attempt to address is at what point will the 64% of consumers who do not use meat substitutes agree to convert to using meat substitutes. Additionally, this study will attempt to determine what factors caused this conversion, or influenced those consumers to begin using meat substitutes.

        There are several companies which have been researching creating sustainable, plant-based proteins, and a few have already produced and marketed these meat alternatives.  Companies such as Beyond Meat, headquartered in Manhattan Beach, California, has made it their mission to “create mass-market solutions that perfectly replace animal protein with plant protein” (Beyondmeat.com, 2015). Beyond Meat has effectively created a plant-based chicken free strips product which reportedly are “filled with protein and have all of the taste of a chicken without the use of antibiotics, hormones, GMOs, trans fats and cholesterol” (Exil, 2014). In fact, Beyond Meat has recently partnered with two other companies, Gardein Protein, a vegetable based dog food company, and Hampton Creek Foods, headquartered in San Francisco, California, to effectively use technology to “physically create animal meat and other products in an effort to replace using actual meat” (Exil, 2014). The difficulty which arises for companies such as this is in the marketing and sales of these new products, especially when there may be consumers within a marketplace who are averse to “meat alternatives”.

Objective and Hypothesis

        Aiking, de Boer, & Vereijken (2006) purport that “it is clear that such a new perspective does not only call for advanced technological and environmental research, but also for in-depth societal research, as the degree of acceptance of new food systems is critically contingent on perceptions and attitudes of human beings.” To date, there is limited study data on the degree of acceptance of new food systems, which lends a monumental opportunity for further advances in this area. The specific aim of this study is to determine to what degree society will be willing to substitute meat with a new food source based wholly on plant-based proteins. As such, for the basis of this proposed study, the hypothesis and null hypothesis are as follows: