Exploring consumer motivations to increase pulse protein in Portuguese family meals using means-end chain theory and novel recipes

European food systems and public health communities are increasingly pressured to promote reductions in meat intake. Persuading consumers to curtail or abandon meat consumption requires shifting their beliefs about the power of meat and its alternatives to deliver desired benefits and align with core life values. Effective strategies must acknowledge that meat substitution can occur at different consumption levels (ingredient, dish, meal), depending on the context in which meat is to be traded off against plant-based alternatives. Using Means-End Chain theory and soft-laddering interviews, this study investigated how omnivorous consumers (n = 43) evaluated three novel dish concepts - a high-protein soup with chickpea sprouts, a vegetable terrine with chickpea sprouts, and an oven-baked meat and chickpea patty - designed to increase pulse protein in family meals at the expense of meat. Novel dishes were evaluated against three traditional recipes - a chickpea soup with spinach, a vegetable salad with chickpeas, and a meat, chickpea and pasta stew - to uncover underlying motivations for preferences. Novel dishes were well accepted and demonstrated adoption potential. Preferences were driven by hedonic (taste, variety, satiation), health (lower energy intake, weight control, avoid illness) and conformity (maintain eating habits, meal preparation convenience) motivations but not sustainability or animal welfare concerns. Motivations determine consumers' food choices, providing insights into barriers and levers of behaviour change. Based on the motivations uncovered, this study proposes differentiated strategies for replacing meat with pulses: product development and innovation (ingredient); traditional recipe reformulation, creation of plant-centric dishes and improvement of plant proteins' sensory quality (dish); enhancement of starters and sides' plant protein content, reconfiguration of the meal structure to remove meat's central role, and reintroduction of Mediterranean mezze tradition (meal).