Spice It Up: The Impact of Spiciness and Arousal on Cultured Meat Consumption

ABSTRACT Cultured meat is an emerging, sustainable protein source; however, it falls short in several aspects, including perceived naturalness, nutritional value, and sensory appeal. Building upon the theory of benign masochism, the research proposes that the sensory imagery of spicy flavour can heighten emotional arousal and, in turn, drive individuals' willingness to try cultured meat. We conducted two online experiments to demonstrate how the flavour descriptor of spiciness influences willingness to try cultured meat. First, we demonstrate that the spicy‐flavour descriptor appears to induce a state of benign masochism and increase willingness to try cultured meat. Second, we demonstrate that emotional arousal serves as the underlying mechanism explaining the effect of the spicy‐flavour descriptor. The results propose a novel route of encouraging willingness to try cultured meat by heightening one's risk‐seeking behaviours. Our study shows that the effect of spicy flavour does not necessarily come from the flavour itself but is underpinned by heightened emotional arousal. Challenging past notions, we demonstrate that arousal increases, rather than decreases, intention to approach novel stimuli. The findings have significant implications for enhancing consumer acceptance of cultured meat.