Determinants of consumption intentions of balanced protein products across countries: a multigroup analysis based on the theory of planned behaviour.

The transition towards more sustainable protein consumption requires a deeper understanding of the psychological drivers underlying consumer choices across different cultural contexts. Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), this study examines the determinants of consumers' intention and self-reported behaviour related to the consumption of balanced protein products (hybrid or blended meat products), including the direct and moderating roles of perceived behavioural control (PBC), and investigates cross-country differences using multigroup analysis. Survey data were collected from 2354 consumers in Australia (n = 792), the United States (n = 776), and Singapore (n = 786). Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed to assess the measurement and structural models, followed by permutation-based multigroup analysis after establishing partial measurement invariance. The results show that attitude and subjective norms significantly predict intention across all countries, with attitude emerging as the strongest determinant. Food neophilia also positively influences intention, whereas PBC does not significantly predict intention in any of the three countries. Negative attitudes towards meat (i.e., the aversive dimension of the meat attachment construct) positively predict intention in Australia and the United States, but not in Singapore. Intention significantly predicts behaviour in all three countries. Interestingly, PBC directly predicts behaviour in Australia and the United States, but not in Singapore, and positively moderates the intention-behaviour relationship across all three countries. Multigroup analysis reveals that the attitude-intention relationship is stronger in the Western samples than in Singapore, while the PBC-behaviour relationship is stronger in Australia than in Singapore. No country differences are found in the intention-behaviour relationship or the remaining structural paths. Overall, the findings support the relevance of the TPB framework while demonstrating that specific relationships vary across national contexts, highlighting the relevance of cultural context in shaping the consumption of balanced protein products.