Exploring new predictors of game meat consumption

Game meat offers various environmental and nutritional benefits, but its consumption remains low. In this study, the extended Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was applied to measure consumers’ intention to eat game meat. An online survey was conducted among 603 Croatian respondents to determine their attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and factors such as attitudes towards African swine fever (ASF) and hunting. The results showed that attitudes towards game meat, subjective norms, and subjective knowledge positively influenced consumption intentions, while attitudes towards hunting had a strong and significant impact on attitudes towards game meat. The extended TPB model demonstrated better predictive power than the basic TPB model. These findings highlight the importance of exploring additional determinants of intention in interventions aimed at influencing game meat consumption behaviour. Notably, this study is the first to apply the TPB in a European context, demonstrating that incorporating risk perceptions associated with ASF can improve intention to eat game meat.