A new study provides a crucial roadmap for Japan to address an escalating ecological challenge while advancing food sustainability: overcoming the psychological barriers to game meat consumption.

The research, published in the journal Food Quality and Preference on October 30,2025, analyzed consumer psychology to understand why this sustainable yet underutilized protein source remains widely rejected. The findings offer crucial insights for policymakers and industry leaders seeking to transform this ecological liability into an economic and environmental asset.

Japan faces an escalating human-wildlife conflict, with agricultural damage caused by wild animals exceeding 16 billion yen annually. Despite intensive culling efforts, the vast majority of the culled deer and wild boars are discarded. Over 80% of the meat is wasted, representing a massive loss of a nutritionally superior protein source.

"Game meat is not just an ecological solution; it is a sustainable food resource," says Tomoko Imoto, Associate Professor at Tohoku University's Graduate School of Agricultural Science, who led the research. "However, the low utilization rate is a demand-side issue. We needed to understand the mindset of the consumer to figure out why."

To identify these psychological drivers, the researchers expanded the well-established Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) framework. They incorporated two crucial external factors into the model: Food Neophobia (the reluctance to try new, unfamiliar foods) and consumers' prior experience with game meat. This comprehensive model allowed the team to rigorously evaluate how beliefs, fears, and past experiences collectively influence the intention to eat game meat.

Analyzing 537 valid responses using advanced statistical modeling (PLS-SEM), the researchers identified the key psychological factors influencing consumers' intentions. They found that consumer attitudes are two-dimensional and remain a significant predictor of willingness to eat game meat. Among the influencing factors, perceptions of taste, safety, and health proved far more decisive than ethical or sustainability considerations.

Crucially, the analysis identified Food Neophobia as a dominant psychological barrier. This "food fear" negatively influences consumers' intentions, primarily because they tend to associate the meat's unfamiliarity with poor quality. Moreover, by comparing experienced and inexperienced consumers, the model revealed that prior experience leads to distinct behavioral patterns. Among the roughly 40% of respondents who had previously tried game meat, positive personal experiences and familiarity enhanced their perceptions of quality, resulting in a markedly more accepting consumer segment.

This study extends the theoretical boundaries of the TRA framework in the context of novel foods, offering actionable insights to guide policies and marketing strategies for positioning game meat as a sustainable, high-quality food option within Japan's modern food system.

"The key lies in strengthening the supply chain with strict quality and hygiene standards," Dr. Imoto concludes. "By providing tasting opportunities and presenting game meat in familiar dish formats, we can effectively address both the quality concerns and the fear of unfamiliar foods, hopefully integrating this untapped protein source into Japan's diet."