abstract: 'The current rate of production and consumption of meat poses a problem

  both to peoples'' health and to the environment. This work aims to

  develop a simulation of peoples'' meat consumption in Britain using

  agent-based modelling. The agents represent individual consumers. The

  key variables that characterise agents include sex, age, monthly income,

  perception of the living cost, and concerns about the impact of meat on

  the environment, health, and animal welfare. A process of peer influence

  is modelled with respect to the agents'' concerns. Influence spreads

  across two eating networks (i.e. co-workers and household members)

  depending on the time of day, day of the week, and agents'' employment

  status. Data from a representative sample of British consumers is used

  to empirically ground the model. Different experiments are run

  simulating interventions of the application of social marketing

  campaigns and a rise in price of meat. The main outcome is the mean

  weekly consumption of meat per consumer. A secondary outcome is the

  likelihood of eating meat. Analyses are run on the overall artificial

  population and by subgroups. The model succeeded in reproducing observed

  consumption patterns. Different sizes of effect on consumption emerged

  depending on the application of a social marketing strategy or a price

  increase. A price increase had a greater effect than environmental and

  animalwelfare campaigns, while a health campaign had a larger impact on

  consumers'' behaviour than the other campaigns. An environmental campaign

  targeted at consumers concerned about the environment produced a

  boomerang effect increasing the consumption in the population rather

  than reducing it. The results of the simulation experiments are mainly

  consistent with the literature on food consumption providing support for

  future models of public strategies to reduce meat consumption.'
affiliation: 'Scalco, A (Corresponding Author), Univ Aberdeen, Rowett Inst, Ashgrove
  Rd W, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, Scotland.

  Scalco, Andrea; Macdiarmid, Jennie, I; Whybrow, Stephen, Univ Aberdeen, Rowett Inst,
  Ashgrove Rd W, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, Scotland.

  Craig, Tony, James Hutton Inst, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, Scotland.

  Horgan, Graham W., James Hutton Inst, Biomath \& Stat Scotland, Ashgrove Rd W, Aberdeen
  AB25 2ZD, Scotland.'
article-number: '8'
author: Scalco, Andrea and Macdiarmid I, Jennie and Craig, Tony and Whybrow, Stephen
  and Horgan, Graham W.
author-email: andrea.scalco@abdn.ac.uk
author_list:
- family: Scalco
  given: Andrea
- family: Macdiarmid I
  given: Jennie
- family: Craig
  given: Tony
- family: Whybrow
  given: Stephen
- family: Horgan
  given: Graham W.
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.18564/jasss.4124
files: []
issn: 1460-7425
journal: JASSS-THE JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL SOCIETIES AND SOCIAL SIMULATION
keywords: 'Consumer Behaviour; Food Choice; Meat Consumption; Population Health;

  Social Influence'
keywords-plus: 'INCOME INEQUALITIES; SOCIAL NORMS; FOOD CHOICE; SUSTAINABILITY;

  SCENARIOS; FRIENDS; HEALTH; IMPACT; POWER; DIET'
language: English
month: OCT 31
number: '4'
number-of-cited-references: '54'
orcid-numbers: 'Craig, Tony/0000-0001-9552-1682

  Scalco, Andrea/0000-0002-0517-9084'
papis_id: ca483b649aba57f2746c7f1fc14f6eb7
ref: Scalco2019agentbasedmodel
researcherid-numbers: 'Horgan, Graham/J-3738-2013

  Craig, Tony/I-8353-2012

  '
times-cited: '9'
title: An Agent-Based Model to Simulate Meat Consumption Behaviour of Consumers in
  Britain
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000493955700008
usage-count-last-180-days: '3'
usage-count-since-2013: '34'
volume: '22'
web-of-science-categories: Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary
year: '2019'