Multiple research posters and an oral presentations were presented by the Lamm Lab on how to most effectively communicate about animal production and meat science at the National Agricultural Communications Symposium, held February 1- 2, 2026, in Louisville, Kentucky.
Megan Meyer presented a research poster titled Exploring the Impact of Food Safety Perceptions on Meat Purchasing Intentions. Her study explored how public perceptions of food safety influence consumers’ future meat purchasing plans. The findings revealed that, although consumers generally expressed moderate concerns about food safety, these concerns were not the main factor driving their meat purchase decisions, nor were they significantly linked to intentions to buy beef or pork. The results indicated other factors, such as price, health beliefs, and cultural values, may have a greater impact on meat-buying choices. This highlights the importance of developing communication strategies that focus on the audience’s perspectives.
Funmi Ajiferuke presented two complementary research posters examining how trust and values influence consumer acceptance of new foods and animal-based products. Using Social Cognitive Theory, her first poster titled Exploring Consumers’ Trust in new Food Using Social Cognitive Theory investigated how personal, behavioral, and environmental factors shape consumers’ trust in new foods. The results highlighted that acceptance is strongly affected by trust in the information about the food, stressing the importance of clear, transparent, and credible communication regarding meat production practices. Her second poster, Aligning Animal Science Comunication with Consumer Values: Insights from Value-Belief-Norm Theory, applied Value-Belief-Norm theory to compare consumer perceptions of animal- and plant-based proteins across health and environmental aspects. The results showed that health concerns were generally more prominent than environmental ones for most protein products, emphasizing the need for value-based communication in animal science.
Gracie Grimes presented a research poster titled Right Message, Right Channel: Addressing Meat Science Misinformation on Social Media. Her study explored how consumers perceive meat-related messaging across major social media platforms. The findings showed that users of Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube viewed meat messaging on their platforms as somewhat positive, while Facebook users reported much lower perceptions. The results indicated platform choice was important when tackling misinformation, with Instagram and TikTok providing good opportunities to engage younger audiences and share accurate, science-based information about meat production.
In addition to the poster presentations, Dennis Baffour-Awuah gave an oral presentation titled Exploring Scientific Messaging about Gene-Edited Pigs Using Music as a Hedonic Cue. The study looked at how different types of background audio used in Instagram-style reels about complex scientific topics, like gene editing, influence audience responses to the message. Specifically, the research examined how pop music, rap music, country music, AI voiceover narration, or silence affected viewers’ hedonic response, recall, and elaboration of the scientific content in the reel. The findings indicated each audio treatment influenced these outcomes differently, demonstrating that background audio is not a neutral element in science communication. Instead, audio can be strategically selected based on specific communication goals, whether the aim is to increase enjoyment, support deeper cognitive processing, or improve message recall. His presentation was in the distinguished manuscript track and was awarded Outstanding Research Paper overall.
These presentations demonstrate the Lamm Lab’s commitment to social science and communication research related to animal agriculture. By examining trust, values, message design, and communication channels, the studies provide insights into how to better share science-based information about meat and the science behind animal production. The findings emphasize that effective communication relies on accurate science, strategic messaging, and appropriate delivery channels.
