Introduction

With global citizens being faced with widespread environmental degradation, the ongoing threat of climate change, and mass-extinction events, despair and powerlessness have resulted in various consumer movements that are rejecting traditional consumer markets. Consumers are attempting to reclaim agency by embracing forms of anti-consumption, focusing on local or organic agriculture, endorsing second-hand products and reselling models, or adopting counter-normative lifestyles. Through this, some are reframing their understanding of morality to include, in addition to their own wellbeing, the wellbeing of distant others (humans, nonhuman animals, and the environment). This is leading them to adopt forms of market resistance, to omit certain products indefinitely, or to choose certain goods and services over others. This chapter focuses on the consumer-driven growth of veganism and the development of the vegan products market. Veganism is defined as a lifestyle movement that rejects the use and consumption of all products and materials of animal origin. Because vegans are perceived as having counter-normative values, against the socially dominant structures situating animals as consumable resources, they have been found to embody a stigmatised identity (Markowski & Roxburgh, 2018). However, this lifestyle offers solutions to both environmental degradation (IPCC, 2020) and individual health benefits (Appleby & Key, 2016), while representing a means of personal empowerment, as well both physical and psychological wellbeing for those who choose to adopt it.

The number of consumers embracing veganism, or reducing their intake of animal products, has grown exponentially over the last decade (The Economist, 2020). This has resulted in a surge in the development of products targeted at vegans. Some of these new products propose alternatives to those traditionally made with ingredients or materials of animal origin, while existing products might carry a vegan label to differentiate themselves in saturated retail spaces. The growing availability of such label-augmented products is fuelled by consumer demand, and intentions regarding brand differentiation have made consumption an ongoing site of moral negotiation (idem). The growth of veganism, and its related accreditations, follows the rise of other labels and certifications asserting confidence regarding the treatment of employees (fair-trade) or animals (welfare), as well as the environmental impact of products along globalised supply chains (Horne, 2009).

Understanding changes in the expectations of individuals who are redesigning their consumption processes to achieve wellbeing for others and themselves is increasingly becoming relevant to discussions surrounding future directions and opportunities for brands and retailers. This chapter therefore aims to unpack the growth of veganism as a consumers-driven lifestyle movement, as framed by Martin and Schouten’s (2014) theory of consumption-driven market emergence (CDME). This theory acknowledges the role played by consumers in the formation of new markets. The chapter is guided by the theory’s key foundational concepts of “market emergence, embedded entrepreneurship and market catalysts” (Schouten et al., 2016, p. 30). It is then suggested that, for ideologically driven consumer movements such as veganism, traditional markets may play a role in reducing stigmatisation and lifestyle legitimation through the development of visible and compliant products.

Understanding the Vegan Movement

Alternative forms of consumption in contemporary societies have been discussed as acts of political empowerment used by individuals to influence markets. Citizens’ increased concern for the care and wellbeing of animals, in food production and as other commodities, can be seen as an extension of more general trends surrounding the moral consideration and inclusion of minority groups observed during recent decades. Built on an ethical premise advocating for a life devoid of animal products, veganism is gaining mainstream recognition. The post-citizenship nature of veganism, whereby advocates are driven by benefits for distant others (i.e. nonhumans or the environment), and not solely for their own wellbeing, implies a more holistic approach to consumption and its impacts. As a lifestyle movement, veganism affects the daily consumption decisions of those undergoing the transformative journey of identity reconstruction that is involved in the adoption of a vegan identity.

Lifestyle movements are mostly enacted individually: they are also ongoing and target cultural norms. Cultural entrepreneurs in these movements create and distribute information and content such as books, magazines, blogs, vlogs, and documentaries, becoming authorities that provide “ideological structure and boundaries” (Haenfler et al., 2012, p. 11). Such boundaries serve to define and guide the practices and behaviours of their adherents. The vegan community in the global marketplace fits what has been defined as a community of purpose, “a social interaction system organized among people with shared or overlapping goals in order to pursue privileged outcomes” (Schouten & Martin, 2011, p. 131). While a lifestyle relates to everyday habits and decisions in relation to one’s identity, movements imply forms of collective action, continuity, and ways of achieving social and cultural change. As such, veganism intersects “private action and movement participation, personal change and social change, and personal identity and collective identity” (Haenfler et al., 2012, p. 2). The adoption of such private actions, with the broader aim of achieving collective cultural change, is a form of consumer agency, where success and failure are measured through forms personal integrity:

As one vegan respondent said, ‘On a personal level, after two years of veganism, I can honestly say that I feel good knowing that I can go through my life, my entire day, without imposing any cruelty on animals in any way’ (Haenfler et al., 2012, p. 9).

Vegan consumption is thus driven by a framework of values. As ethical considerations continuously present themselves as the predominant motivation (Radnitz et al., 2015) underpinning the adoption of a vegan lifestyle, the concept of ethical consumption must be considered. The ethical buyer has been discussed as someone shopping for a better world and this extends beyond the purchase of products, from concerns over various ethically charged issues (e.g. human or nonhuman animal rights, environmental impact) to boycotts of the companies involved in unethical business practices. But how does an intention to consume ethically result in the emergence of a market?

Consumption-driven Market Emergence (CDME)

Consumption-driven market emergence theory has been applied and developed through engagement with the minimoto market (Martin & Schouten, 2014), and the development of the US organic food market (Schouten et al., 2016). This theory identifies three stages, or sets of translations, that result in the emergence of a market. The first stage is the emergence of the new market itself through agentic individuals who modify or find novel ways to engage with existing products. This leads to a second phase, which is the growth of embedded entrepreneurs who see potential viability or have a greater interest in developing the new market. The third stage is the precipitation of market catalysts that stabilise emerging markets through the development of formal infrastructures. Contrary to traditional firm-driven (top-to-bottom) market development, where formal institutions and major market actors develop innovative offerings in the pursuit of increased profit, CDME observes the emergence of markets that are driven by consumers themselves, sometimes in opposition to traditional market practices. The diffusion of such markets is community-driven, a bottom-up approach to market development and structuration aligned with the growth in vegan products and the increased visibility of veganism more broadly. Vegan community members engage with each other, often in sourcing compliant products. The success of this movement, and its resulting surge in market visibility, relies upon the uptake and individual decision-making of individuals who adopt this lifestyle in support of their own and others’ wellbeing, as well as their endorsement, communication, and consumption in ways that act as an alternative to established societal norms.

The Consumption-driven Emergence of the Vegan Market

As discussed above, vegan consumption is regulated and negotiated through ethical considerations. Veganism has been situated as a moral practice where personal integrity prevails in the face of imposed market structures, while recognising that it is not incompatible with capitalist values, as can be observed in the ever-growing market for vegan products. This has fostered the development of alternative consumables, labels, and certifications, also identified as attention-generating cues that serve to inform and attract consumers who might struggle to differentiate between the various products on the market, while seeking to make more informed, values-driven purchasing decisions. However, the commercial appeal of this movement originated from individual shifts in ideological orientation.

Emergence of the Counter-cultural Vegan Ideology

The first stage translation, or the phase leading to the emergence of a market, is based upon the mostly noneconomic interests of individuals who embody the desire, creativity, and innovative skills to be able to transform or modify established markets. While not originally under discussion through the current framing of veganism, ideological and philosophical reflections on the rejection of products of animal origin can be traced to cultural actors and thinkers who advocated for, through their writing, such a diet and, later, such a lifestyle (Singer & Mason, 2006). As such, in order to trace the emergence of the movement as it is known today within Western contexts, a good suggestion is to start with the establishment of the British Vegan Society in November 1944, by Donald Watson and other members of the British Vegetarian Society. They suggested that a vegetarian diet must extend to the exclusion of dairy and eggs in order to be truly devoid of animal cruelty. The word vegan was coined as a contraction of the word vegetarian, and explained in the association’s first pamphlet, also published in November of 1944 and representing the first issue of The Vegan, the quarterly journal of the Vegan Society, which is still published to this day. At the 1947 International Vegetarian Union’s World Vegetarian Congress, held in Stonehouse, in the UK, Watson held a ‘Congress Talk’ on veganism as an ideological pursuit (Watson, 1947). The American Vegan Society was then founded in 1960 by Jay Dinshah, who was a reader of The Vegan magazine. From then on, the vegan movement observed the “concurrent formation of multiple, geographically diverse communities” (Martin & Schouten, 2014, p. 865), with different organisations providing structures for the development of a collective vegan identity. Such groups encouraged lifestyle activism in movement participants, suggesting the spread of this ideology through social networks and other forms of outward activism. The quarterly pamphlet ‘The Vegan’ evolved to include, in addition to philosophical reflections on the movement, a repository of news surrounding vegan products and vegan-friendly spaces of consumption, which are often developed, sourced, or marketed by adherents of the movement themselves.

Embedded Entrepreneurship in Veganism

While the vegan movement first developed as an alternative ideology guiding consumption practices, the sourcing and development of products was being carried out in parallel by movement participants. The second phase of consumer-driven market emergence is that of embedded entrepreneurship. It is during this stage that entrepreneurs identify and engage with their capacity to innovate, create, and supply new or augmented products or services within their areas of consumption interest (Martin & Schouten, 2014). In the context of Lifestyle Movements, and veganism more specifically, ‘cultural entrepreneurs’ emerge as movement ambassadors by producing and disseminating various print, video, audio, and digital media enabling vegan consumption by means of encouraging, supporting, and facilitating these activities, modelling specific lifestyle practices, and guiding consumption. The increase in online communities and social platforms as sites of dissemination both for informational and inspirational content by community adherents has also been identified as key to enabling the growth of such a lifestyle movement. While the mainstreaming of veganism might have been supported by these cultural entrepreneurs, they cannot be elevated above traditional animal rights activist groups and formal organisations, who raise awareness of the negative environmental impact, and the routine cruelty, resulting from animal-agriculture industries. One example of embedded entrepreneurship is the dissemination of dairy alternative Soylac in 1947, a vegetable milk that readers of The Vegan were advised to request “at their local grocers or Health Food Stores” (Vegan Society, 1947, p. 21). The magazine noted that, in anticipation of a negative response, they should give store owners instructions on how to reach out to the Vegan Society for sourcing information (idem). Recipe leaflets were also created in support of the consumption of such products. In 1974, author Marcea Newman published an alternative baking cookbook, The sweet life: Marcea Newman’s natural-food dessert cookbook, considered to be the first vegan baking book making use of plant-based alternatives to dairy. In more recent developments, the substantial rise in the accessibility of meat and dairy alternatives (also called ‘analogue products’) has been suggested to have facilitated the growth of the vegan movement’s dietary component (Radnitz et al., 2015).

This form of community-driven entrepreneurship has also been observed outside of food in the development of cosmetic products by British vegan society member Muriel Dowding. In 1959, Dowding founded the organisation Beauty Without Cruelty. The organisation was and still is devoted to the replacement of animal products, pioneering the development of cruelty-free cosmetics such as vegetable oil soaps, produced without animal testing. To quote from an anthology discussing veganism and the use of animals as resources, she wrote:

It is now possible to offer an individual a choice between a humane and a cruel purchase. (…) The success or these products depends upon the public’s demand for them. This demand can only stem from a conviction that the price paid in animal suffering for furs, leathers, and cosmetics is too high (Dowding, 1971, p. 73).

While the development of other materials was undertaken by various industries through R&D, their use in catering to the vegan market was undertaken by ideological entrepreneurs, for example, footwear manufacturer Vegetarian Shoes and later vegan accessories brand Matt & Nat (Lamarche-Beauchesne, 2023). Such alternative products are created by and for those wanting to alleviate the psychological discomfort or ‘conviction’ associated with the consumption of animal-derived ingredients and materials. However, the evolution away from a distinct entrepreneurial undertaking towards becoming established as a market requires formal structures, which come in the form of market catalysts.

Vegan Market Catalysts

Market catalysts are actors that structure and stabilise informal markets by removing obstacles, by increasing exchanges and opportunities within previously dissociated networks, and by creating infrastructures around an emerging market, in turn formalising it to market participants (Martin & Schouten, 2014). Martin and Schouten (2014) found that growth and legitimation in the minimoto market were catalysed by two institutional actors—a magazine and a championship motorcycle race—that enabled flows of information and influence within growing but loosely connected communities of consumption and production. The organic farming market also experienced transformations by way of important market catalysts, namely the establishment of various organic certifications (Schouten et al., 2016) and organised supply chains. While other discussions about CDME and market shaping focus on specific segments of industries (i.e. food, plus-size fashion, motocross), the vegan consumer movement is gaining traction on a variety of fronts due to its overall aim of changing the societal norms surrounding the utilisation of animals as a resource. This therefore affects, at once, multiple industries that use the bodies or labour of animals in their products. As the vegan movement has slowly been gaining recognition since its formal inception in 1944, while expanding internationally, it has been relying on various sources of content and ongoing events to share developments in products. Even though a vegetarian conference was first held in Cologne, Germany, in September 1889, and then held yearly in diverse locations, it was only held for the first time in the US in 1975, with committee members stemming from the American Vegan Society, notably its founder Jay Dinshah. The first International Vegan Festival was then held in Denmark in 1981. Such events acted as community gatherings, trade shows, and sources of information and advertising space, gathering consumers, and enabling connections between the community and the market actors. Participation in events, for example, conferences and festivals, has the capability to cement commitment to alternative lifestyles through the generation of networking opportunities and community formation. In 1994, on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the British Vegan Society, World Vegan Day was established on November 1st, a date that is today commercially relevant and utilised internationally as a marketing tool by brands and retailers.

Another market catalyst within the vegan movement was the development of certifications by supporting organisations, for example, the British Vegan Society’s vegan trademark. Its launch was announced on 27 February 1990, when it was stated that:

The Society is prepared to authorize the use of its trademark on products fulfilling its ‘no animal ingredients, no animal testing’ criteria. Consumers will be able to buy products bearing the trade mark in the knowledge that no animal suffered during any stage of the products’ development and manufacture (Calvert & de Boo, 2014, p. 10).

This statement demonstrates the value of the trademark, when viewed through the lens of consumer’s individual wellbeing and that of distant others, in terms of certified products being devoid of ‘animal suffering’. American organisation People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (P.E.T.A.) then launched its ‘PETA certified vegan’ label in 2012, a logo used by brands to differentiate themselves and to advertise their product as vegan. Such examples of market stabilisation and regulation support the exponential growth of products oriented towards the vegan consumer segment. While movement entrepreneurs could be conceptualised as early adopters working on the margins of established marketplaces, attempts at market co-optation by traditional industry actors were to be expected. This leads to questions over the use of vegan labels and marketing certifications, and the widespread development and distribution of vegan products.

Lifestyle Legitimation through Mainstreaming

Cyclical patterns of market emergence, whereby the slow acceptance of alternative consumption leads to market co-optation by traditional market structures due to the apparent commercial viability, are said to have the potential to alienate those who led and supported the emergence of the new market (Schouten et al., 2016). However, as veganism carries forms of social stigmatisation (Markowski & Roxburgh, 2018), in this context, market co-optation can be reframed, as movement mainstreaming. The stigmatisation of veganism arises due to its counter-normative position and its adherents’ attempts to disrupt established relationships between human and nonhuman animals. However, numbers of vegan products, or products meeting the requirements of a vegan diet and lifestyle, continue to rise globally (The Economist, 2020), through major food retailers, fashion brands and cosmetic labels. This has led to discussions regarding potential market co-optation by institutional actors. Nevertheless, it can be contended that vegan labelling is impervious to what Jaffee and Howard (2009) identified as the two main means of achieving market co-optation; that is, the weakening of standards and attempts at regulatory capture. The weakening of the standards that structure a market, whereby large corporate actors utilise market capital and lobbying to reduce requirements, has been observed in the dilution of organic standards and other certification exercises. In parallel, regulatory capture can be explained as the management of labels, certifications, and standards by those who have vested interests in the maintenance of some form of diluted status quo. Using the comparative case of the fair trade and organic regulations, Jaffe and Howard state that the popularity and early growth of the two main certifications in the organic food movement which were rooted in early social movements and consumer mobilisation led to market co-optation by over 70% of the major food processors in the US, who either introduced alternative versions of their product offerings or acquired smaller producers within the organic sector (Howard, 2009). It can be argued that, while fair trade and organic regulations certify processes, and as such also involve measures of regulatory subjectivity, vegan labelling certifies content or, more accurately, the demonstrable absence of ingredients or materials of animal origin. This renders the labelling of products as “vegan” simply boundary-defining, while the label itself carries a message that attempts to change established cultural norms.

The pillars of legitimacy proposed in institutional theory are used by Humphreys (2010) to suggest that, “the establishment of physical reality, such as the construction of buildings or the manufacture of products—adds legitimacy to a consumer practice” (p. 419). Additionally, the role of socially significant stakeholders, for example, the media and public policy actors, can aid in the legitimation of new markets, for example, the vegan market. Therefore, the mainstreaming of veganism remains safeguarded from both regulatory capture and the weakening of standards due to the meaning of veganism not being porous itself. Additionally, within the context of vegan food labels, fraudulent products could lead to issues of food safety, with half of the eight major allergenic foods being animal-derived (milk, eggs, fish, and crustacean shellfish). If veganism is an ideological movement, vegan labelling can be associated with the ideology itself. It could therefore be contended that changes in products away from being labelled ‘vegan’ towards being labelled ‘plant-based’ is a way for traditional retailers and product developers to target the segment without being associated with veganism directly as both terms carry identical meaning as far as consumers are concerned (Noguerol et al., 2021). While this might be criticised as a lessening of the intended objectives of the early development of the vegan market, it has resulted in more widespread adoption. The growth in vegan products, through major market actors, can therefore be suggested to have rendered the adoption of the lifestyle, and the consumption of vegan/plant-based products, increasingly accessible, visible, and legitimate.

Conclusion and Way Forward

As this chapter suggests, the emergence of veganism as a lifestyle movement, through the support of early ideological actors, embedded community entrepreneurs, and market catalysts has encouraged and legitimised the adoption of alternative consumption habits. This legitimisation, coupled with growing investment in the development of the new materials and analogue ingredients that mimic the properties of traditionally non-vegan products (e.g. meat and dairy substitutes), suggests that this segment is well positioned to continue its growth. Whereas motivations regarding the adoption of veganism were traditionally other-centred—with ethics or environmental degradation supporting the maintenance of the lifestyle—self-interested motivations are also growing (Radnitz et al., 2015). As such, it is in equal parts psychological and physical wellbeing that support the adoption of vegan practices, something that is relevant for both industry practitioners and researchers to consider.

Implications for Industry Practitioners

In line with the above suggestion, that is, that wellbeing can be offered to both individuals and animals through the consumption of vegan-branded products, the brands, and retailers developing such offerings could adopt messaging that engages with this duality, where products are seen as benefiting the wellbeing of both the individual consumer and others. Additionally, measures being taken by businesses, through internal policies that include sourcing, as well as more stringent supply chain auditing and reporting, have been enabled by a variety of technological advances. While these activities have a financial impact on businesses, they can be harnessed by brands and retailers as consumer-facing exercises and marketing activities by means of communication and careful choices in terms of labelling and certifications in conveying physical and psychological wellbeing. Additional activities suggested for retailers include clear in-store product segmentation and website filters to assist consumers by easing their access to compliant products. The space of vegan cosmetics, fashion, and plant-based meats has been projected by The Economist (2020) to continue its market penetration and to represent opportunities for institutional actors in the replacement of ingredients, dedicated product lines, and new brands. Agentic and caring consumers have also turned to digital tools and mobile applications to harvest information on the range of products and services available in the marketplace. Brands and retailers wanting to leverage such platforms should refer to these tools’ accreditation systems when attempting to align themselves with their messaging, benefiting from exposure through alternative sources of ethical information.

Implications for Research and Ways Forward

While this chapter provides a review of some of the ways the vegan market has developed, empirical research into both cultural entrepreneurship within the vegan space and the engagement of institutional market actors whose original offering stands in opposition to the ideological market they are targeting (i.e. meat-based businesses offering plant-based versions, leather goods companies launching vegan product lines) would allow additional understanding of the decision-making processes of companies, and yield interesting insights into the selection of a growth strategy. Additionally, this chapter also focuses on consumer goods of either ephemeral (food) or moderate durability (cosmetics and fashion products). As such, research on how the market for durable products, for example, furniture and cars, is developing, in response to new demands, would be of value. While the limited space available has also restricted this chapter to tangible products, the market for vegan services, including travel and cultural experiences, is also growing. Research into how the adoption of a vegan lifestyle impacts which are the services chosen and the development of these vegan services themselves would extend current knowledge of this growing market and how services are used by consumers as part of an individual ideological lifestyle movement. Additionally, this chapter is structured as a review, utilising the existing literature to discuss the emergence of the vegan market. However, a retroactive media analysis would be useful in order to understand both what contributed to changes in the discourse surrounding veganism and how (if) this has affected the emergence of the vegan market. While the climate emergency continues to disrupt supply chains and consumption outlooks, the value of alternative consumption options, through changes to individual lifestyles as well as how they lead to feelings of empowerment and agency, will remain relevant to consumer wellbeing.