Overconsumption of red and processed meat is associated with a multitude of negative health outcomes. Previous research shows exposure to advertising messaging can influence dietary behaviors but research on the influence of meat advertising on diet, specifically, is scant. Theoretically informed by the Reasoned Action Approach, the present experiment randomly assigned participants to view a version of a print McDonald’s advertisement that included meat imagery (a Big Mac), non-meat imagery (French fries), or no food (just the McDonalds’ logo and slogan), which acted as a control. An online survey in the United States included 514 U.S. adults (M_age = 51 years). Participants exposed to meat imagery compared to the non-meat imagery reported a higher desire to eat meat. The meat imagery and control conditions were also significantly associated with increased cognitive accessibility of meat concepts, compared to when respondents were shown the no-meat condition. Desire to eat meat, but not the cognitive accessibility of meat concepts, was significantly associated with attitude, normative pressure, and perceived behavioral control for avoiding eating meat one day per week; these constructs predicted intention and willingness to avoid meat. Results indicate that exposure to meat imagery in advertising does have the potential to influence meat consumption behavior and also has implications for the use of meat imagery in persuasive messaging for public health campaigns.

过度消费红肉和加工肉类与许多负面健康结果有关。先前的研究表明，接触广告信息会影响饮食行为，但关于肉类广告对饮食影响的研究很少。从理论上讲，根据理性行动方法，本实验随机分配参与者观看麦当劳印刷广告的一个版本，其中包括肉类图像（巨无霸）、非肉类图像（炸薯条）或没有食物（只有麦当劳的标志和口号），作为控制。美国的一项在线调查包括 514 名美国成年人（M_年龄 = 51 岁）。与非肉类图像相比，接触肉类图像的参与者报告说吃肉的欲望更高。与向受访者展示无肉条件时相比，肉类意象和控制条件也与肉类概念的认知可及性增加显着相关。吃肉的欲望，而不是肉概念的认知可及性，与态度、规范压力和感知行为控制显着相关，避免每周吃一天肉；这些结构预测了避免吃肉的意图和意愿。结果表明，在广告中接触肉类图像确实有可能影响肉类消费行为，并且还对在公共卫生运动有说服力的信息中使用肉类图像产生影响。