Plant-based milk alternatives: a matter of taste?

Researchers have been working for some time to gain an increased understanding of which consumer characteristics play a role in the consumer's preference and choice of both meat and plant-based meat substitutes. The concept of rationalization recognized in psychology, i.e., that an individual justifies a decision and explains an action that is emotional, has been the basis for evaluating the motives surrounding meat consumption. Justifying a meat consumption such as Natural, Necessary, Normal, and Nice (the 4N) has previously been associated with a higher meat consumption. The 4N's form a specific scale and in this context have shown that common rationalizations or justifications for eating meat, are that meat consumption is considered natural, necessary, normal, and pleasant [nice]. This, in turn, is a way for the consumer to defend his choice to eat meat.

Rationalization, to justify or justify one's choices, can remain an obstacle to changing what we eat, even for people who have a strong will to change their consumption patterns. However, there is little knowledge about how consumer properties can affect the perspective on plant-based dairy substitutes. To test whether similar rationalizations and justifications demonstrated for meat consumption also exist for dairy consumption, the 4N scale was adapted. The 4N scale is based on a survey of 16 statements that quantify the aspects of the consumer's justification for choosing dairy products such as Natural, Necessary, Normal and Nice.

The first conducted study showed that individuals who to a greater extent rationalize their meat consumption also rationalize their dairy consumption, and that a stronger rationalization for animal dairy products is linked to a higher consumption of dairy products. In other words, similar results previously shown for meat consumption with the 4N scale. Of all aspects, Nice had the strongest relationship with consumption, and "taste" was the most common reason for consuming, or not consuming, meat and dairy products.

Furthermore, in the second study, where the newly developed and dairy product-adapted 4N scale was used, it was found that dairy products, for that matter linked to Nice, were useful for categorizing consumers as frequent or non-frequent consumers of plant-based dairy substitutes. Those who justified their dairy consumption to a greater extent less often consume plant-based dairy substitutes. The people in the study had different expectations of how cow's milk and plant-based dairy substitutes should taste. An herbal product was more associated with words like "nutty," "watery," "flakes," "earthy," "calcareous," and "beany."

The two studies highlight that an important part of the understanding of consumer behaviour lies in considering the relationship between product and consumer properties and, that the sensory profile of plant-based dairy substitutes should be paid attention to during product development.

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