CAA is committed to supporting the development of the body of knowledge on consumer perceptions of cellular agriculture in Australia. That’s why we are partnering with Deakin University to achieve this.
But why do we actually need more consumer research? Well, what’s the point of producing and selling cellular agriculture products if no one wants to buy them?
Currently, there is very little publicly available data on Australian consumer perceptions of cellular agriculture technologies and products. While various global studies on predicted purchase intentions and willingness-to-try exist, data from the APAC region is limited, and Australian-specific data even more so.
However, a nuanced understanding of the appetite and predicted purchase behaviour for these products, as well as the drivers and barriers to uptake, is critical if the impact potential of cellular agriculture is to be realised. In particular, the role of consumer trust has been identified as an area requiring further research.
Australia also has a unique consumer demographic and demand appetite which needs to be unpacked in the context of cellular agriculture. Notably, Australia’s strong agricultural industries (particularly red meat and dairy), and high per capita meat consumption, create a unique demand landscape which must be carefully navigated by cellular agriculture companies.
However, cellular agriculture consumer acceptance research is chronically underfunded and under-resourced - providing a white space which we at CAA saw an opportunity to fill.
Enter CAA: supporting local Australian consumer research
That’s why CAA is supporting two research projects to be undertaken at Deakin University in 2024-25.
One of the objectives of our 2022-23 seed grant program was to catalyse further research. Excitingly, this has led to CAA supporting further research to be carried out by grantee supervisors Gie Liem and Adam Cardilini at Deakin University.
Research must deal with the added challenge of assessing consumer behaviour without products yet being available in the market - meaning actual consumer adoption and uptake cannot yet be accurately measured. That’s why we have partnered with consumer science experts Gie and Adam, to utilise their deep-seated expertise to lead this work.
In supporting this research, our objectives are twofold:
- To directly contribute to the body of knowledge in the field of cellular agriculture, and;
- For this research to act as a groundswell to enable researchers to access larger grants in the future.
Read more about our current research projects:
- The mediating role of perceived benefits and risks in acceptance of cellular agriculture - conducted by Phelia Harrison & Gie Liem at Deakin University.
- Developing a taxonomy of cellular agriculture contrarian claims - conducted by Sarah Cook and Adam Cardilini at Deakin University.
.png)
.png)
.png)
