Neuroscience meets food choice: Implicit and explicit consumer responses to plant-based vs animal-based foods.

ABSTRACT: Understanding consumer acceptance of plant-based (PB) alternatives is essential for fostering sustainable dietary transitions. This study combined electroencephalography (EEG) and self-reported measures to examine implicit and explicit responses to PB alternatives versus animal-based (AB) traditional foods - belonging to meat, fish, and dairy food types-across visual, olfactory, and gustatory experimental phases. Thirty-six participants evaluated matched PB and AB foods while EEG indices of approach-withdrawal (AW) and mental workload (WL) were recorded. Results showed AB products globally received higher ratings for taste, familiarity, and purchase intention, whereas PBs were rated as more sustainable. From a neurophysiological point of view, tasting PB foods induced higher WL, which nega

SUBMITTER: Inguscio BMS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12810345 | biostudies-literature | 2026

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature