“Got Milk Alternatives?” Understanding Key Factors Determining U.S. Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Plant-Based Milk Alternatives

Rombach, Meike; Dean, David L.; Bitsch, Vera

doi:10.3390/foods12061277

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

“Got Milk Alternatives?” Understanding Key Factors Determining U.S. Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Plant-Based Milk Alternatives

by

Meike Rombach

^1,*

,

David L. Dean

²

and

Vera Bitsch

³

¹

Department of Land Management and Systems, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand

²

Department of Agribusiness and Markets, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand

³

School of Management and School of Life Sciences, Chair of Economics of Horticulture and Landscaping, Technical University of Munich, 85354 Freising, Germany

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Foods 2023, 12(6), 1277; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12061277

Submission received: 27 February 2023 / Revised: 14 March 2023 / Accepted: 15 March 2023 / Published: 17 March 2023

(This article belongs to the Section Sensory and Consumer Sciences)

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Abstract

Milk is an important dairy product in U.S. food retail. Lifestyle changes toward climate-conscious consumption, animal welfare, and food safety concerns have increased the popularity of plant-based milk alternatives. This study is focused on such beverages and provides insights and best practice recommendations for marketing managers in the U.S. food retail sector. An online survey was distributed to explore factors explaining the intentions of U.S. consumers to purchase and pay a premium for plant-based milk alternatives. Food curiosity and food price inflation were identified as relevant for both willingness to buy and willingness to pay a price premium. In addition, animal welfare concerns and the green and clean product image of plant-based alternatives were relevant to the willingness to pay a premium for plant-based milk.

Keywords: plant-based milk alternatives; animal welfare; food curiosity; PLS-SEM; climate impact; sustainability

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MDPI and ACS Style

Rombach, M.; Dean, D.L.; Bitsch, V. “Got Milk Alternatives?” Understanding Key Factors Determining U.S. Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Plant-Based Milk Alternatives. Foods 2023, 12, 1277. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12061277

AMA Style

Rombach M, Dean DL, Bitsch V. “Got Milk Alternatives?” Understanding Key Factors Determining U.S. Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Plant-Based Milk Alternatives. Foods. 2023; 12(6):1277. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12061277

Chicago/Turabian Style

Rombach, Meike, David L. Dean, and Vera Bitsch. 2023. "“Got Milk Alternatives?” Understanding Key Factors Determining U.S. Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Plant-Based Milk Alternatives" Foods 12, no. 6: 1277. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12061277

APA Style

Rombach, M., Dean, D. L., & Bitsch, V. (2023). “Got Milk Alternatives?” Understanding Key Factors Determining U.S. Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Plant-Based Milk Alternatives. Foods, 12(6), 1277. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12061277

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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“Got Milk Alternatives?” Understanding Key Factors Determining U.S. Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Plant-Based Milk Alternatives

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