"Why we (do not) substitute meat" : Exploring how households with elementary school children explain their intentions and behaviour (gap) regarding meat substitute consumption.

Background: The consumption of meat in western societies keeps growing. This leads to a paradox, with a growing awareness in the society of health and environmental issues regarding meat consumption and a growing willingness to substitute meat more often. Purpose: Explore the intentions of households with elementary school children to consume meat substitutes and to match these intentions with the actual behavior to find the extent of the intention-behavior gap and how they explain their intentions, behavior, and potential disconnect. Method: To understand the actual behavior of the households, two weeks' worth of grocery receipts were collected and analyzed. To explore intentions, additional semi-structured interviews were conducted, where the participants got the opportunity to explain their intentions, behavior, and gap. Conclusion: The results show that there are three types of consumers, depending on the level of intention. The profiles differ whether they feel the need to explain their intention or the intention-behavior gap. To explain themselves, All profiles state that meat is too delicious to leave out and that meat is a habit formed in childhood. Depending on the profile, additional reasoning was more internal or external