"This would have meant" is a conditional phrase talking about the past. Example:

I wasn't going to eat breakfast, but this would've meant that I would be hungry all day because there were no more opportunities to eat until tomorrow. 

I didn't want to buy packaged food but that would've meant I had to cook everything from scratch. 

I can only recall using this phrase to describe a moment of indeciveness. Both examples about explain WHY a choice was made: why I decided to go ahead and eat breakfast, and why I went ahead and bought packaged food. 

If you discussed scenarios of two contrasting decisions, you would use that phrase. 

I hope that helps. Have a lovely day!