When researcher Linda Bacon showed 750 adults in Britain menus that included two plant-based entrees, they were half as likely to choose them if they were listed in a section called “Vegetarian Dishes.” In a World Resources Institute blog, Bacon says the grouping “highlights the lack of meat or fish” and reduces interest for a variety of reasons.
The separate listing suggests to some people that the dishes aren’t intended for them, since most people do not identify as vegetarian, or “prime people with negative associations about vegetarian food,” said Bacon, a graduate student at the London School of Economics. “For example, some people may think it is less tasty or nutritious, and men may be influenced by the association between meat-eating and masculinity.”
When all eight entrees on Bacon’s test menu were listed together, 13 percent of participants in the online survey said they would order one of the vegetarian dishes. When the dishes were listed separately, only 6 percent of respondents selected them.
“How we see and talk about plant-based foods is ripe for innovation, and it’s potentially a cost-effective way of driving demand,” said Bacon, a former global strategy director at Mars, Inc. “It’s important, however, as we go through this research, that we figure out a solution that works for meat and non-meat eaters. Vegetarians are an important consumer group, too.”