The impact of new products on ethical beliefs

Does technological change affect ethical beliefs? We study the case of synthetic alternatives to meat products using an incentivized survey experiment. One might expect that the possibility of an improved alternative would increase objections to meat production on moral grounds because it reduces the cost of avoiding meat. Instead, we find that informing consumers of a new alternative decreases moral objections to conventional animal farming relative to a control. Participants who are experimentally nudged to view the new alternative relatively more positively do indeed report more moral concern for animal welfare. The findings suggest a backlash effect in which people react to innovation by increasing their support for existing practices, but depending on how positively they view the alternative.