Resumo

The challenges related to climate change require a structural change in the economic chain, from production to consumption, including habits and dietary choices of individuals. There is increased social pressure for changes in diet, especially in meat consumption patterns. Eating meat is part of the dominant dietary habit in many societies and is considered the social norm in most areas of the world. Groups present a single and specific system of social norms that must be followed to confirm and maintain the affiliation.

However, social norms from different groups can be important, salient, and incompatible at the same time, which can lead to normative conflicts. Despite the relevance of focus theory of normative conduct theory to understand and predict intentions and behaviors, the conflict of social norms among groups and its effect on behavior has been neglected by previous research on consumer behavior area. To solve this gap, this essay aims to explore the effect of conflict of social norms between different groups on consumption behavior, using meat consumption as context.

We discuss the conflict among the social norms of different groups using as theoretical lens social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979) and focused theory of normative conduct (Cialdini et al., 1990); explore under what conditions the social norms of different groups can be divergent and what would be the possible influences on consumption behavior relationships (Giguère et al., 2010; Hirsh & Kang, 2016). Also, we presented the context of sustainable diets and food consumption, exploring meat consumption (Soule & Sekhon, 2019).

Conflict among social norms of different groups is a possible situation and is yet little explored. Previously studies in Social Psychology suggest that normative conflict situations, individuals use cognitive activities and behavior as strategies to harmonize identities. However, it is not clear what the effect of incompatible normative standards in consumer behavior. Norms’ conflict impact in behavior can be mixed, positive, or negative and are influenced by other factors. Thus, we propose research questions that arises from the theoretical gap identified.

Considering, also, the growing proenvironmental movement and increased intention to reduce or to curtail of meat consumption for a reason linked to environmental, health and/or animal welfare concerns (Soule & Sekhon, 2019), it is suggested that this area of research has potential for theoretical and social contributions and managerial for the field of Marketing and Management. The impact of this conflict on meat-eating behavior is unknown, and this appears to be a flourishing field for study for consumer behavior.

Giguère, B., Lalonde, R., & Lou, E. (2010). Living at the Crossroads of Cultural Worlds: The Experience of Normative Conflicts by Second Generation Immigrant Youth. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 4(1), 14–29. Hirsh, J. B., & Kang, S. K. (2016). Mechanisms of Identity Conflict: Uncertainty, Anxiety, and the Behavioral Inhibition System. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 20(3), 223–244. Soule, C. A. A., & Sekhon, T. (2019). Preaching to the middle of the road: Strategic differences in persuasive appeals for meat anti-consumption. British Food Journal, 121(1), 157–171.