An Analysis Of The (Post)Modern Hunting: exploring consumers’ perception towards hunted wild game meat and insights into the role of hunters in the contemporary era

Although not practiced for subsistence, hunting is still popular in Western countries and hunted wild game meat (HWGM) is its product. Consumer science literature reports that HWGM is increasingly appreciated by consumers, who link to this product several positive attributes (i.e., HWGM is healthy, comes from a non-farmed animal, and its production is proved to be more environmentally sustainable than farmed meat). On the other hand, the debate around hunting legitimacy in the contemporary era is still heated. Hunters are often condemned, since hunting is considered by some parts of the public to be obsolete, cruel, and unacceptable, as long it is practiced for recreational purposes. Based on these premises, the objective of this thesis is to investigate and understand, both from the perspective of the consumer and the producer (the hunter), how hunting and HWGM are perceived by them. This thesis is based on three studies. The first study (Chapter II) seeks to identify which variables are connected to consumers' perceptions and attitudes towards HWGM by reviewing the existent body of literature on the topic. The second study presented (Chapter III) aims to assess the presence of Optimistic Bias in Italian hunters, since the presence of this cognitive bias may alter the hunter's perception of the risk connected to the implementation of improper behaviours during HWGM manipulation, threating consumers’ health. The third study (Chapter IV) aims to understand how hunting (and, thus, hunters) is reframing its role into society, by providing an in-depth analysis of (new) hunters identities. The results of this thesis want to shed light on different features that characterize i) the HWGM consumers and ii) the hunter, analysing them as two key-actors involved in the contemporary re-negotiation of the image of contemporary hunting.