Attitudes and behaviours of consumers towards plant-based yoghurt alternatives: a cross-cultural study

BACKGROUND Increased awareness of sustainable food production and vegan, vegetarian and flexitarian diets are driving the growth in dairy substitutes, particularly plant-based yoghurts. To understand consumer perception or mind-set and facilitate adoption of plant-based yoghurt products, a multi-phase study using both qualitative and quantitative research methods was conducted to understand the differences between perceptions (cognitive, affective, and social responses) of consumers, belonging to Western and Asian cultural groups, to plant-based yoghurts compared with traditional dairy yoghurts. The study involved a qualitative focus group (n = 37, four sessions), a quantitative survey (n = 433) and a quantitative blind-tasting sensory experiment (n = 117), examining consumers perceptions and overall liking of the plant and dairy products. The focus groups produced terms used for further experiments.

RESULTS The quantitative survey showed that dairy yoghurts were preferred with higher overall liking scores compared to plant-based yoghurt alternatives, and displaying differential cognitive, affective, and social responses. However, these perceptions contrasted with blind consumer tasting panel results, which showed that both types of yoghurts were similarly liked by respondents producing similar overall liking scores. Furthermore, the studies found that consumers' negative responses towards plant-based yoghurt alternatives are primarily responsible for their lower popularity. Association towards emotion and health factors were common for both dairy and plant-based yoghurts as shown by linear models. However, dairy yoghurts were additionally associated with ingredient and cultural factors, and plant-based yoghurts were affected by social factors.

CONCLUSION Hence, addressing and overcoming the negative expectations regarding plant-based yoghurts is essential to facilitate their future adoption. The study has important implications for novel product development strategies to facilitate consumer adoption of plant-based yoghurts, especially for different cultural groups.