Abstract
Consumers are confronted with growing criticism regarding the consumption of many food products and the negative effects they may have on environment or health. However, though they may themselves endorse such criticism, they often do not modify their behaviour in consequence and still remain active consumers of these products. How do they cope with the contradiction, if any, between their negative attitudes and their consumption behaviour? Building upon the cognitive dissonance theory, a first qualitative study aims at identifying the various strategies used to lower the psychological discomfort resulting from this contradiction. Then, a survey of 501 French consumers in the meat category is conducted. The experiment leads to the proposal of a consumer typology, and shows that the strategies used to process a new and dissonant piece of information influence future behavioural intentions. (English)