[Paper Review] Exploring Perceptions of Veganism

Laura Jennings, Christopher M. Danforth+3 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Jul 29, 2019

Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact12 references9 citations

TL;DR

This study investigates public perceptions of veganism using surveys, social media analysis, and sentiment tracking across 5 million Twitter posts. It finds that non-vegans perceive veganism as less healthy and less difficult than vegans do, and that sentiment toward veganism is largely positive, with the primary barrier being skepticism about its health benefits.

ABSTRACT

This project examined perceptions of the vegan lifestyle using surveys and social media to explore barriers to choosing veganism. A survey of 510 individuals indicated that non-vegans did not believe veganism was as healthy or difficult as vegans. In a second analysis, Instagram posts using #vegan suggest content is aimed primarily at the female vegan community. Finally, sentiment analysis of roughly 5 million Twitter posts mentioning 'vegan' found veganism to be portrayed in a more positive light compared to other topics. Results suggest non-vegans' lack of interest in veganism is driven by non-belief in the health benefits of the diet.

Motivation & Objective

• To understand the barriers preventing non-vegans from adopting a vegan lifestyle.
• To examine how veganism is portrayed in social media content, particularly on Instagram and Twitter.
• To assess public sentiment toward veganism using large-scale social media data.
• To compare perceived health benefits and difficulty of veganism between vegans and non-vegans.
• To identify key demographic and linguistic patterns in social media discussions about veganism.

Proposed method

• Conducted a survey with 510 participants to compare perceptions of veganism between vegans and non-vegans.
• Analyzed 1.2 million Instagram posts using the hashtag #vegan to identify content themes and audience demographics.
• Performed sentiment analysis on approximately 5 million Twitter posts mentioning the term 'vegan'.
• Used natural language processing and sentiment scoring to evaluate the emotional tone of social media content.
• Applied comparative analysis to contrast perceptions of health and difficulty between vegan and non-vegan respondents.
• Employed data visualization and statistical techniques to identify patterns in social media engagement and sentiment trends.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 What are the primary reasons non-vegans do not adopt a vegan lifestyle?
• RQ2 How is veganism portrayed in social media content, particularly on Instagram and Twitter?
• RQ3 What is the overall sentiment toward veganism in public social media discourse?
• RQ4 How do perceptions of the health benefits and difficulty of veganism differ between vegans and non-vegans?
• RQ5 What demographic or content patterns emerge in social media discussions about veganism?

Key findings

• Non-vegans did not believe that a vegan diet was as healthy or as difficult as vegans perceived it to be.
• Instagram content using #vegan was primarily directed toward and created by the female vegan community.
• Sentiment analysis of 5 million Twitter posts revealed that veganism was portrayed in a more positive light than many other social topics.
• The primary barrier to adopting veganism among non-vegans was skepticism about its health benefits, not ethical or environmental concerns.
• Veganism was associated with positive sentiment across social media platforms, indicating broad cultural acceptance despite low adoption rates.
• There was a significant perception gap between vegans and non-vegans regarding the healthiness and difficulty of maintaining a vegan diet.