The seventh survey of the Vegan Research Panel took place during June 2003. 2048 panel members were sent an email inviting them to complete an online survey comprising 23 questions. 61% of the panel completed the survey within a 28 day period.
Turn on, tune in, veg-out!
The concept of a vegan TV programme produced the best ever response to
an open-ended question with almost 1,000 entries. Almost half of all vegans
(48%) want to see cookery programmes, with recipe ideas and advice. A
quarter want to see health, diet and nutrition issues addressed on TV,
and up to a fifth will tune in for product reviews (19%) and animal rights/welfare
programming (18%).
What meal deal?
Nine out of ten UK vegans (89%) think that restaurants/cafes cater for
vegans poorly. Almost half (44%) think that they are very poorly catered
for, compared to just under a third in the US (28%) and the rest of the
world (32%). A third of UK vegans (32%) have never eaten in a vegan restaurant.
Silent minority
Nearly nine out of ten vegans (87%) use soya milk at least once a week,
and two-thirds (68%) use soya milk at least once a day. However, of the
60% of UK vegans who use soya milk in tea and/or coffee, less than a third
(29%) often or always ask for it when eating/drinking out. Only 18% of
all UK vegans often or always ask for soya milk when out.
A healthy lifestyle
Most vegans (83%) feel healthier since turning vegan, with US vegans most
likely to feel healthier (92%). On the question of vitamin supplements,
usage is slightly higher in the US, with almost half of US vegans (44%)
often or always take vitamins compared to just over a third of UK vegans
(35%).
Vegan network
Most vegans know at least one other vegan, although 14% do not. The great
majority of vegan panel members (85%) think that the internet has made
them feel less isolated as a vegan, up from just over half three years
ago (1). Three quarters of vegans (74%)
think that there are now more vegans in their country than there were
five years ago, with US vegans the most optimistic (2).
1. In answer to a similar question in Survey
1, 54% felt the internet had made them less isolated in their lifestyle.
2.The figure for US vegans was 85%.
V-commerce!
Almost all vegan panel members (96%) have used the internet to locate
vegan products, and three quarters (75%) have purchased vegan products
online, with heaviest usage in the UK and US (3).
UK vegan internet users are much more likely to buy products online than
other UK internet users, with the majority having purchased a product
online in the last 6 months (84%). (4)
3. On the panel, 79% of UK vegans and 78% of US vegans
have purchased vegan products online, compared with just 50% of vegans
outside the UK/US.
4. 49% of British internet users have ever made a purchase
(Which Annual Internet Survey 2002).
The figures below are based on the 1249 panel responses unless otherwise stated. Figures in parenthesis are based on the 538 UK vegan responses.
| Very well | *% | (0%) |
| Quite well | 5% | (4%) |
| Neither well or poorly | 10% | (7%) |
| Quite poorly | 46% | (45%) |
| Very poorly | 39% | (44%) |
| Several times a day | 40% | (53%) |
| Once a day | 20% | (19%) |
| Several times a week | 16% | (13%) |
| Once a week | 3% | (3%) |
| Several times a month | 5% | (3%) |
| Once a month | 6% | (4%) |
| Less than once a month | 7% | (3%) |
| Never | 3% | (2%) |
| Yes, in both tea and coffee | 23% | (29%) |
| Yes, in tea only | 17% | (25%) |
| Yes, in coffee only | 11% | (6%) |
| No | 49% | (40%) |
| Always | 12% | (10%) |
| Often | 9% | (8%) |
| Sometimes | 19% | (21%) |
| Hardly ever | 19% | (22%) |
| Never | 41% | (39%) |
| Yes | 62% | (66%) |
| No | 36% | (32%) |
| Don't know | 2% | (2%) |
| Very interested | 41% | (36%) |
| Quite interested | 32% | (37%) |
| Neutral | 16% | (15%) |
| Not particularly interested | 8% | (10%) |
| Not at all interested | 3% | (2%) |
| Homeopathic doctor | 27% | (25%) |
| Homeopathic dentist | 2% | (2%) |
| Homeopathic vet | 7% | (8%) |
| Always | 23% | (19%) |
| Often | 19% | (15%) |
| Sometimes | 25% | (27%) |
| Hardly ever | 17% | (20%) |
| Never | 16% | (19%) |
| Under 15 | 13% | (7%) |
| 16-24 | 50% | (51%) |
| 25-34 | 25% | (29%) |
| 35-44 | 8% | (9%) |
| 45-54 | 3% | (3%) |
| 55+ | 1% | (1%) |
| The figures in column 1 are based on the responses of the 1201 veg*an panel members who answered this question. | ||
| Very often | 12% | (16%) |
| Often | 17% | (23%) |
| Sometimes | 35% | (36%) |
| Almost never | 18% | (12%) |
| Never | 18% | (13%) |
| Cat(s) | 40% | (36%) |
| Dog(s) | 26% | (20%) |
| Rabbit(s) | 5% | (5%) |
| Other(s) | 13% | (12%) |
| This question included an open-ended 'other' option. The other companion animals most frequently mentioned were fish, rats, guinea pigs and hamsters. | ||
| Dietary/health | 14% | (9%) |
| Ethical/moral | 82% | (90%) |
| Spiritual/religious | 2% | (1%) |
| I am not veg*an | 2% | (0%) |
| Yes | 82% | (81%) |
| No | 15% | (18%) |
| I have always been vegan | 1% | (1%) |
| I am not veg*an | 2% | (0%) |
| None | 16% | (12%) |
| 1 or 2 | 27% | (24%) |
| 3 or 4 | 19% | (17%) |
| 5 or 6 | 13% | (15%) |
| 7 or 8 | 5% | (7%) |
| 9 or 10 | 3% | (5%) |
| More than 10 | 17% | (20%) |
| Yes | 72% | (73%) |
| No | 7% | (6%) |
| Don't Know | 21% | (21%) |
| Yes | 82% | (84%) |
| No | 16% | (16%) |
| I am not veg*an | 2% | (0%) |
| Yes | 94% | (96%) |
| No | 6% | (4%) |
| Yes | 67% | (79%) |
| No | 33% | (21%) |
| Several times a day | 61% | (56%) |
| Once a day | 18% | (17%) |
| Several times a week | 17% | (22%) |
| Once a week | 2% | (3%) |
| Several times a month | 1% | (2%) |
| Once a month | *% | (*%) |
| Less than once a month | *% | (0%) |
| Less than 5 hours | 29% | (37%) |
| 6-10 hours | 29% | (26%) |
| 11-15 hours | 14% | (12%) |
| 16-20 hours | 9% | (6%) |
| 21+ hours | 19% | (18%) |
| Yes | 78% | (84%) |
| No | 22% | (16%) |
| Meateater | 1% |
| Nearly vegetarian | 2% |
| Vegetarian | 11% |
| Nearly vegan | 18% |
| Vegan | 67% |
| Raw foodist | 1% |
| 1. Cookery demonstrations and tips (48%), including food ideas and meal planning, recipe ideas and advice. |
| 2. Health, diet and nutrition issues (24%), including tips, myths, benefits of a vegan diet, guidelines and advice. |
| 3. Product reviews (19%), including new products, product availability and information. |
| 4. Animal issues (18%) including animal rights, welfare, news, suffering, abuse, cruelty and activism. |
| 5. Lifestyle issues (13%), including promoting veganism / vegans as normal and in a positive way, profiles, benefits and problems. |
| 6. Place reviews (11%), including holidays and travel, and hotel, restaurant and café reviews. |
| 7. Why vegan (6%), reasons to become vegan. |
| 8. Celebrity/famous vegans (6%), interviews and profiles. |
| 9. Educational programmes (6%), including documentaries and exposés with a vegan slant. |
| 10. Debate/discussion (5%), about the moral, ethical and environmental reasons for veganism. |
This was an open-ended question. Other areas consistently mentioned included raising vegan children, humour/comedy, fashion/beauty and gardening. 3.5% of the vegan respondents to this question claimed to either not have a TV or to not watch TV. These figures are based on the responses of the 744 vegan panel members who answered this question. |
| "...healthy, happy shining vegans" "...famous vegans cooking and telling about their choice to be vegan" "...cooking, vegan product reviews, animal rescue/welfare news and information" "...a 'foxhunt' of animal abusers" "...Tommy Cooper (and food reviews I guess!)" "...how to make [vegan] Yorkshire pudding and soufflé" "...a really informative programme that dispels stereotypes and gives veganism the positive image it deserves" "...Jamie Oliver making raw vegan food!" "...how animals die in slaughterhouses and vivisection labs" "...a complete [vegan] lifestyle package" "...a talk-show style programme that explores a variety of [vegan] issues - food and cooking, health, pets, clothing, shopping, books, pregnancy and children, travel, etc..." "...vegan characters on fictional shows" "...me!" |