Vem är Vegorätt? En experimentell studie av förekomsten av stereotyper i reklambilder och konsumenters attityder gentemot vegetarisk mat

Sammanfattning: Abstract Title: Who is Vegorätt? An experimental study of the relationship between stereotypes in advertisements and consumers’ attitudes towards vegetarian food Seminar date: 2016-05-25 Course: FEKN90, Master Thesis in Business Administration - Marketing, 30 ECTS Authors: Sarah Hellberg, Emelie Lundqvist, Moa Rydlöv Advisor: Clara Gustafsson Key words: Stereotypes, vegetarian food, Consumer Culture Theory, advertisement, attitudes. Purpose: To investigate whether the presence of persons respectively stereotypes in advertisements can influence consumers’ attitudes towards vegetarian food. Methodology: A quantitative research with an experimental study design. The experiment was performed through exposing the respondents, which were divided in to three groups, to different stimulus in terms of three different advertisements of a vegetarian product. One picture shows the product with a stereotyped vegetarian, the second picture shows the product with a non-stereotyped person and the third picture shows the product alone. The respondents answered a questionnaire about the product and the questions were identical for all three groups. The only difference between the groups was the pictures. Furthermore, the study has a deductive, objective and positivistic approach. Theoretical perspectives: The theoretical framework consists of the theory of cognitive response and is positioned in the Consumer Culture Theory field. Within this field, theories about stereotypes, identity, attitudes and people in advertising and on food packaging has been used to create a framework. Empirical foundation: The empirical foundation consists of data collected from an experiment conducted through a survey with 604 respondents. The response rate was 79 %. Conclusions: The result shows that the respondents had a more positive attitude towards the product when it was portrayed alone as compared to when it was portrayed with a non-stereotyped model. Furthermore, the study the study shows a correlation between the attitude the respondents had towards the product and the extent to which they already consumed vegetarian food.