"Trick or Meat?"

The constant growth of the world population and the increasingly urgent climate and environmental disasters are raising concerns about what could be done to slow down this ecological exhaustion. The meat production industry is a significant polluter in the current environmental scenario, and there is an increasing trend that promotes plant-based meats as meat substitutes. Yet, in Italy, there is still widespread skepticism about plant-based diets and products. The main objective of this thesis was to determine whether an increased degree of environmental knowledge and concern among Italians would increase their willingness to try and purchase intention of plant-based meats. Current literature, it lacks comprehension regarding the factors that can impact individuals' behavior and intentions concerning plant-based meat. Despite its extensive usage in academia, the MOA model which is implemented in the current study (motivation-opportunity-ability) had yet to be considered when investigating the factors driving individuals to embrace a sustainable lifestyle and through the consumption of plant-based meat within a specific country. A survey was conducted among 157 respondents with an Italian nationality above 18 years old. The results showed a positive correlation between environmental concern on the one hand and motivation and ability to eat plant-based meat on the other hand. Furthermore, motivation was related to willingness to try and purchase intention, while ability was only related to willingness to try plant-based meats. Overall, motivation was also found to be a mediator between environmental concern and both willingness to try and purchase intention. No relationship was found between environmental knowledge and any of the other variables; similarly, the relationships for opportunity were insignificant in all analysis. These results prove that the level of environmental concern of people plays a crucial role in their eating behaviors, together with their levels of motivation. This study underlines the importance of understanding the underlying drivers for pro-environmental behavior and advises marketers and policymakers to create campaigns and initiatives to address these factors effectively. Nevertheless, caution must be exercised when implementing these measures as there is still a prevailing skepticism about plant-based meats among Italians, as the survey showed. This implies that Italy may not be deemed a favorable market to expand the range of these products.