Reduced consumption of conventional red meats due to environmental and health concerns may create interest in less familiar red meats from alternative animal species. The objective of this study was to identify perceptions of three red meats; beef, a familiar meat, and bison and horse meat, less familiar red meat alternatives. A total of 145 western Canadian participants completed an on-line survey that included a free word association task, food variety seeking and food involvement scales, and meat consumption and demographic questions. The free word association yielded 41 word categories of diverging perceptions of the 3 meats. Beef was described with positive sensory attributes and well-liked foods, yet with environmental, ethical and production concerns, reflecting the ‘meat eaters’ paradox’. Bison was perceived as a lean game meat, suggesting a lack of awareness of current bison production and retail availability. Horse meat was unfamiliar to 80% of the participants. Horse meat was acknowledged to be consumed in other regions, however as a companion animal and pet, the dominant perception of horse meat was that it was unacceptable for eating. Participants were clustered into four groups based on the combined food-related personality traits of variety seeking and food involvement. The high food involvement cluster associated bison with positive eating quality attributes and may be amenable to its consumption when provided with accurate information about bison production.

由于环境和健康问题而减少传统红肉的消费可能会引起人们对来自替代动物物种的不太熟悉的红肉的兴趣。这项研究的目的是确定对三种红肉的看法；牛肉，一种熟悉的肉，以及野牛和马肉，不太熟悉的红肉替代品。共有 145 名加拿大西部参与者完成了一项在线调查，其中包括自由词联想任务、寻找食物种类和食物参与量表，以及肉类消费和人口统计问题。自由词联想产生了 41 个词类别，对 3 种肉类的不同看法。牛肉被描述为具有积极的感官特性和受欢迎的食物，但也存在环境、伦理和生产方面的问题，反映了“肉食者悖论”。野牛被认为是一种瘦肉，表明缺乏对当前野牛生产和零售供应的认识。80% 的参与者不熟悉马肉。马肉被认为在其他地区被食用，但作为伴侣动物和宠物，马肉的主要看法是不能食用。根据多样性寻求和食物参与等与食物相关的人格特征，参与者被分为四组。高食物参与集群将野牛与积极的饮食质量属性相关联，并且当提供有关野牛生产的准确信息时，可能适合其消费。然而，作为伴侣动物和宠物，马肉的主要看法是不能食用。参与者根据多样性寻求和食物参与的综合食物相关人格特征分为四组。高食物参与集群将野牛与积极的饮食质量属性相关联，并且当提供有关野牛生产的准确信息时，可能适合其消费。然而，作为伴侣动物和宠物，马肉的主要看法是不能食用。参与者根据多样性寻求和食物参与的综合食物相关人格特征分为四组。高食物参与集群将野牛与积极的饮食质量属性相关联，并且当提供有关野牛生产的准确信息时，可能适合其消费。