| dc.description.abstract | A transition towards a diet with more plant-based protein instead of animal meat is essential due to the negative effects of meat consumption on the environment, human health and animal welfare. An approach to succeed in this is replacing animal meat with plant-based meat substitutes (PBMSs). However, the suppliers of PBMSs are facing several barriers to increased consumption of these products among consumers. This research proposes co-branding with meat processing companies (MPCs) as a strategy for the suppliers of PBMSs to address these barriers. Consequently, this research aims to get a deeper understanding of the barriers to increased consumption of PBMSs and how co-branding partnerships with MPCs could help the suppliers of PBMSs to address these barriers. Hence, one supplier of PBMSs was chosen and three corresponding co-branding partnerships with MPCs were selected. To gain a deeper understanding of the researched phenomenon, a comparative case study design is employed with a co-branding partnership as unit of analysis. Online news articles and press releases about these partnerships were collected and interviews with managers of the supplier and industry experts were conducted. In addition, an abductive research approach was used which allowed the researcher to use existing literature on these barriers and the benefits of co-branding as a guide to gather and analyse the data. From the data analysis five main barriers emerged to increased consumption of PBMSs: the taste, high prices, negative associations, the availability and the social context. The benefits of co-branding can be classified in three main categories, namely market, symbolic and financial benefits. The findings show that the benefits of co-branding with MPCs have high potential for the suppliers to address these barriers. Whereas the market benefits have the potential to address the availability, negative associations and the social context barrier, the symbolic benefits have the potential to address the taste, price and negative associations barrier. Additionally, the financial benefits have the potential to address the price and taste barrier. The findings of this study contribute to the literature by providing an overview of the current barriers to increased consumption of PBMSs, providing a clear overview of the benefits of co-branding from a strategic brand management perspective and by proposing a strategy for the suppliers of PBMSs to address the barriers to increased consumption of PBMSs. The contribution to society is that more insight in strategies to address these barriers could stimulate the required protein transition. | |
