A study on the mediating role of intention in the impact of habit and attitude on meat consumption

A sample of 929 subjects (over 14 years of age) completed a questionnaire assessing attitudes and intentions towards the consumption of red, white and preserved meat. Behaviour was measured by observation of actual consumption of meat during a week. The objective of the present study was twofold: to understand the role of attitudes, habit and intention in predicting the actual consumption of meat; to study the mediating role of intention in the impact of attitude and habit on consumption of meat. The consumption showed higher correlations with habit than with intention for red and white meat. Habit has been shown to be more correlated to intention of consuming than the attitude component was for each type of meat. A comparison between competing theoretical models indicated that the model which included indirect influences of habit and attitudes on behaviour, by means intention, was the best for its relative adequacy in accounting for the observed data. The subjective measure of habit outweighed attitude in the impact on intention of consuming meat. Intention was found to have a good and significant effect on actual consumption of meat.