The Moderating Role of Intrinsic and Quest Religiosity on the Effectiveness of Religious Appeals in Promoting Cultured Meat

Denni Arli, Luis Arango, Felix Septianto

Journal of Business Ethics · 2025 · Volume 201 · Issue 3

Abstract

In response to the environmental impacts of agricultural food production, alternative food sources have been developed over the past few decades. One of the latest innovations is ‘cultured meat.’ Despite offering an alternative to raising animals for meat, the idea of lab-grown meat has received a mixed response from religious consumers. Thus, the present research investigates the effect of using religious appeals in advertising on consumers’ intention to purchase cultured meat. The authors propose that consumers’ religiosity (intrinsic and quest religiosity) moderates their green identity, which subsequently affects their intentions to purchase cultured meat. The results of two experimental studies show that at low levels of quest religiosity, a religious (vs. non-religious) appeal led to higher intentions to purchase cultured meat among participants with high (but not low) levels of intrinsic religiosity. The findings of this research have implications for religious leaders, ethicists, and policymakers when dealing with the commercialization of cultured meat.

Keywords

Cultured meat, Intrinsic religiosity, Quest religiosity, Green identity

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