The influence of product- and person-related factors on consumer hedonic responses to soy products

Consumers in Western countries increasingly appreciate health benefits of soy products. However, several barriers prevent full acceptance of these products. This study investigates the effects of product-related factors (perceived familiarity and expected healthiness) and person-related factors (food neophobia and health interest) on consumer hedonic responses to various soy products. In the pre-study, 48 German-speaking participants assessed the perceived familiarity, healthiness and tastiness for 21 soy products. In the main study, four soy products that differed in familiarity and healthiness were presented to German consumers (n = 327) as images supplemented by product names and slogans stressing either health or taste benefits. Participants rated their attitudes towards the product, product liking, taste expectations and willingness to try the products in a 2 (familiar or unfamiliar products) × 2 (healthy or tasty products) × 2 (low or high food neophobia) between-subject design. As hypothesized, neophilic consumers showed more positive responses to soy products compared to neophobic consumers. Neophobics showed more positive responses to familiar soy products, whereas the responses of neophilics were not influenced by product familiarity. Health interest positively influenced the willingness to try soy products. However, the effect of healthiness manipulation on hedonic responses to experimental products was not significant. The results of the study suggest that perceived familiarity might be more important for acceptance of soy products than expected healthiness. Successful marketing strategies for soy products should target neophobic consumers by increasing the level of familiarity of soy foods.     

Situational appropriateness of beer is influenced by product familiarity

Explicit account of contextual variables can enhance the ability to understand and predict consumers’ food-related behavior. One aspect that has hitherto received little attention is whether context equally affects familiar and unfamiliar food products. The matter is investigated in four consumer studies (N = 76, N = 97, N = 93, and N = 145), using beer images varying in familiarity as test stimuli. Using the situational appropriateness framework, we derived a quantitative characterization of product – context associations, revealing major differences between beers. The data analysis showed a two-dimensional product space that separated beers according to familiarity and beer styles. Familiar beers were primarily considered appropriate for refreshments and while attending sport events, while novel ones were perceived as more self-indulgent and appropriate for dining events and special occasions. These associations were robust across studies, suggesting that contextual evaluations are important in this product category. The level of familiarity strongly correlated with usage versatility, and significantly affected the perceived appropriateness for specific usage-contexts, possibly acting as a cue to infer product quality and performance.     

Comparison of volumetric and surface decontamination techniques for innovative processing of mealworm larvae (Tenebrio molitor)

For food and feed safety of edible insects, effective decontamination methods need to be evaluated and developed. Traditional decontamination and preparation methods were reviewed and thermal and innovative inactivation methods for the decontamination of mealworm larvae were evaluated and compared. The impact of the surface decontamination techniques direct and indirect plasma treatment, and of volumetric methods such as high hydrostatic pressure treatment (400, 500, and 600 MPa) and thermal treatments (45 °C and 90 °C) for up to 15 min on the surface microbial load and on the overall microbial count of mealworm larvae (Tenebrio molitor) have been investigated. It was found that the indirect plasma treatment was an effective means for the surface decontamination of mealworm larvae, whereas high hydrostatic pressure at 600 MPa and thermal treatments in a water bath at 90 °C in comparison resulted in the highest reduction of the overall count. It is thus concluded that volumetric methods are favorable for the inactivation of the gut microbiota of insects.Industrial relevanceEdible insects represent a valuable alternative protein source that could contribute to food and feed security and are industrially mainly unexploited. For a successful marketing of edible insects food and feed safety has to be ensured and effective decontamination methods need to be developed.     

Willingness of Iranian young adults to eat organic foods: Application of the Health Belief Model

This study investigates the determinants of organic foods consumer behavior in Iran. This will further understanding of consumer decision-making regarding organically produced foods and help identify strategies for promoting their consumption. The focus of the study was to explore the influence of constructs of the Health Beliefs Model on willingness to use organic foods using a multistage, stratified random sample of young adults (n = 389) in a survey conducted in Iran. Structural equation modeling showed that perceived benefits, general health orientation regarding pesticides and organic foods, self-efficacy and perceived barriers are significant predictors of willingness regarding the use of organic foods. These variables can predict nearly 42% variance of young adults’ willingness to use organic food. The findings yield public policy and marketing recommendations for stimulating organic food consumption among young adults.     

Associations between nutritional properties of food and consumer perceptions related to weight management

Consumer perceptions of food (for example, how filling or healthy) influence eating behaviour and appetite control. Therefore approaches to understand the global nutritional attributes of foods that predict the strength of consumer perceptions are of academic and commercial interest. The current research describes the development of a flexible platform for systematically mapping the global nutritional attributes of foods (both objective and perceived) to consumer perceptions of those foods. The platform consists of a database of standardised UK food images (currently n = 300), linked to a catalogue of detailed perceptual, nutritional, sensory, cost, and psychological information (‘nutritional attributes’). The platform also incorporates demographic and psychometric questionnaires to examine the importance of nutritional attributes on consumer perceptions within or between relevant target groups. In the current study, the platform was applied to a sample of dieting and non-dieting British men and women (n = 887) to examine the global attributes of a subset of foods (n = 75) and their association with successful weight management (i.e. supportive of weight loss, weight loss maintenance or prevention of weight gain). Generalised linear models identified energy density, cost (£/kcal), perceived energy content and satiating capacity as the main nutritional attributes underlying dieters’ and non-dieters’ perception of successful weight management food. Additionally, pleasantness, and desire not to (over) eat were uniquely associated with dieters’ perception of food as good for weight management; pleasantness was positively associated with weight management and desire to eat was negatively associated with weight management. Therefore, global nutritional attributes of foods can predict and distinguish the extent consumers’ perceive a food to be related to successful weight management. This platform will be extended to increase the variety of foods and specificity of nutritional attributes in the database suitable for a range of commercial, academic or clinical research applications.     

Americans’ acceptance of black soldier fly larvae as food for themselves,their dogs,and farmed animals

This paper investigates consumer attitudes towards Hermetia illucens larvae (aka Black Soldier Fly Larvae; BSFL) and other insects in two forms: dried whole insects and insect flour incorporated into a familiar food. In two studies, we assessed the willingness of American adults to try eating them directly, eating animals fed on them, and feeding them to their pet dog. Participants were significantly more willing to try food made with insect flour than to eat the whole insects, with the same pattern emerging for acceptability of insects in dog food. BSFL were roughly as acceptable as other insects (crickets, mealworms, ants). On average, participants had negative attitudes towards eating BSFL on their own, but the majority were willing to try foods containing BSFL in the form of insect flour or rendered fat. There are also suggestions in the data that indirect routes of consumption (e.g., consuming animals that have eaten insects, or feeding insects to one’s dog) are more acceptable than direct consumption. Our results suggest that BSFL are relatively well-received by consumers and are a promising alternative to the farmed animals more commonly used in pet food.     

Minced meat-like products from mealworm larvae (Tenebrio molitor and Alphitobius diaperinus): microbial dynamics during production and storage

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the production process as well as the storage conditions (air, 60% CO₂/40% N₂) on the microbial counts and the bacterial community composition of a minced meat-like product from yellow mealworm larvae (YM) and from lesser mealworm larvae (LM). It was necessary to design a different production process for each larva type in order to obtain a minced meat-like product. Both production methods had an effect on the microbiota of the finished products, and that effect was extended during storage. Immediately after production, YM and LM showed aerobic counts between 1.4 and 2.3 log cfu/g and between 2.0 and 3.6 log cfu/g, respectively. The bacterial community composition differed between both products. The use of modified atmosphere during storage reduced bacterial growth compared to storage in air. In conclusion, the study points out that for the two insect types considered, it is possible to obtain a minced meat-like product with low microbial numbers and a potential shelf life that is attractive to retailers and consumers.Industrial relevanceThe consumption of traditional meat sources is under pressure due to its high environmental impact. Entomophagy (the consumption of insects by humans) can be one of the solutions to the globally increasing protein demand. However, in Western countries, some aversion for edible insects still exists. In those markets, people prefer the inclusion of insects in an invisible way into familiar food products. In order to stimulate the implementation of edible insects in the Western market, new insect-based products were developed that closely resemble a very popular meat product, being minced meat. Recent studies showed that fresh edible insects contain a high number of spoilage organisms and potential food pathogens. Therefore, monitoring the dynamics of the microbiota during preparation and storage of the new insect-based products is of utmost importance. We were able to produce end products with low microbial numbers that could be kept low during storage, especially by the use of modified atmosphere packaging.     

Examining heterogeneity in elderly consumers’ acceptance of carriers for protein-enriched food: A segmentation study

Elderly face an increased risk of nutritional deficiencies due to reduced appetites and increased nutritional needs. The development of appealing enriched functional foods holds a great potential for improving the nutritional status of this group of consumers. However, the elderly population is strongly heterogeneous, which poses a challenge to fulfilling their nutritional needs. Therefore, this study aimed to illustrate and examine the heterogeneity in elderly consumers’ acceptance of carriers for enrichment. In an online survey, respondents (N = 303, M_age = 66.9) were asked to rate their willingness to trial purchase a set of carriers enriched with protein, that varied systematically in terms of healthiness (healthy vs. unhealthy), novelty (novel vs. traditional), and meal type (meal component vs. snack). Overall, respondents reported low willingness to purchase protein-enriched foods and indicated that they preferred to consume more protein-rich conventional foods, should they need to increase their protein intake. The identification of heterogeneity in carrier acceptance, especially regarding product novelty and meal type, suggested that there was room for improvement in product acceptance. Indeed, willingness to trial and repeat purchase protein-enriched carriers were considerably higher for product formats that were tailored to six subgroup of respondents. These findings underline the merits of taking heterogeneity into account when commercialising functional foods among elderly. Future studies may want to look into additional ways to reduce scepticism among elderly regarding the use of enriched food.     

Food neophobia levels of Lebanese and American college students

Food neophobia, defined as the reluctance to eat novel foods, is a personality trait that influences everyday human food choices. The objectives of this work were first, to compare food neophobia levels among American and Lebanese college students (n = 1122), second to assess the effect of personal variables such as country of residence, socio-economic status (SES) on food neophobia levels, and third to examine the effect of food neophobia levels on the familiarity and willingness to try ratings of familiar and novel foods. Average food neophobia scale (FNS) score for all respondents was 33.1 ± 11.3. Differences on FNS scores were obtained between American (29.8) and Lebanese (36.4) students (P < 0.05). Number of trips taken outside the country, frequency of eating ethnic foods and history of sickness after eating a new food were significant (P < 0.05). Food neophilic subjects had higher familiarity and willingness to try scores for familiar and novel foods.     

Retail lighting and packaging influence consumer acceptance of fluid milk

Little is known about the effect of retail light-emitting diode (LED) exposure on consumer acceptance of milk. The study objective was to determine effects of fluorescent and LED lighting under retail storage conditions on consumer acceptance of milk. Consumer acceptance of milk stored under retail conditions was determined through sensory evaluation (2 studies; n = 150+ each) and analytical measures (dissolved oxygen, secondary oxidation products, riboflavin retention). Study 1 evaluated milk stored in high-density polyethylene (HDPE) packages for 4 h under LED light (960 lx). Commercially available HDPE package treatments included translucent HDPE (most commonly used), white HDPE [low concentration (1.3%) TiO₂], and yellow HDPE; in addition, HDPE with a higher TiO₂ concentration (high white; 4.9% TiO₂) and a foil-wrapped translucent HDPE (control) were tested. Translucent and control packages also were tested under fluorescent light. Study 2 evaluated polyethylene terephthalate (PET) packages for 4 h under fluorescent and LED light (1,460 lx). The PET packaging included 2 treatments (medium, 4.0% TiO₂; high, 6.6% TiO₂) as well as translucent HDPE (exposed to fluorescent), clear PET (fluorescent and LED), and light-protected control. Overall mean acceptability of milk ranged from “like slightly” to “like moderately” with significantly lower acceptability for milk exposed to fluorescent light. Milk in HDPE and PET packages had comparable overall acceptability scores when exposed to LED light. Only the fluorescent light condition (both PET and HDPE) diminished overall acceptability. Fluorescent light exposure negatively influenced flavor with significant penalty (2.0–2.5 integers) to overall acceptability of milk in translucent HDPE and clear PET. The LED also diminished aftertaste of milk packaged in translucent HDPE. Changes in dissolved oxygen content, as an indication of oxidation, supported the observed differences in consumer acceptance of milk stored under fluorescent and LED light. Consumers like the flavor of fresh milk, which can be protected by selecting appropriate packaging that blocks detrimental light wavelengths.     

The impact of the means of context evocation on consumers’ emotion associations towards eating occasions

The joint investigation of the product, the consumer, and the consumption context is necessary for furthering the understanding of eating occasions (snacks and main meals), including their construction and enjoyment. The study of people’s experience of eating occasions is less advanced than the understanding of acceptability, preference, and choice of individual food/beverage items and/or their combination in meals. The current research contributes to narrowing this gap by focusing on emotions as a dimension of eating experiences and enjoyment. Under evoked consumption contexts (breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner), the emotion associations for several products (potato crisps, chocolate brownie, and kiwifruit) were obtained from consumers (n = 399) using a questionnaire method. Emotion associations were explored in relation to: (1) the way in which the food stimulus was evaluated by participants (tasting food vs. seeing a food image); (2) the serving presentation of the food stimulus (image of food shown in isolation vs. image of food served on a plate with cutlery); and (3) the means in which the consumption context was evoked (written vs. written and pictorial). Consumers’ product emotion associations when tasting a food stimulus vs. seeing an image of the same food were highly similar. There was some evidence that more specific means of presenting the food stimuli (with tableware vs. without tableware) and consumption contexts (written and pictorially vs. written only) influenced perceived appropriateness of the product in the focal consumption context. This resulted, for example, in a higher frequency of use of negative emotion terms in the less appropriate consumption contexts. Overall, through the use of evoked consumption contexts this research has contributed new understanding of product-specific emotional associations during eating occasions from a methodological approach. In addition to the aforementioned results a more general finding was the apparent reliance by participants on past product experiences when completing the emotion questionnaire.     

Consumers' acceptance of a high-polyphenol yerba mate/black currant beverage: Effect of repeated tasting

The effect of repeated tasting may improve the acceptance level and positive emotions associated with an unusual food. Our aim was to analyze this effect on the consumer acceptance, emotional status, purchase intention and optimum level of sensory attributes of a yerba mate (YMI)/black currant (BC) drink with high polyphenol content and low palatability.Beverage formulations (%) were: YMI 50/BC 30 (S1); YMI 60/BC 20 (S2); YMI 60/BC 20/diet sweetener 0.05 (S3). All samples had 15% maltodextrin, 0.01% aroma and 5.0% sucrose. One hundred participants (70 female, 30 male) aged 25 to 63 years (M = 38.9, SD = 10.9) evaluated the same three samples (S1, S2 and S3) during four sessions to determine the influence of repeated exposure, taking the first session as a control. Acceptance was measured by a 9-point hedonic scale, purchase intent by a 5-point scale and attribute diagnosis (sourness, sweetness, astringency, aroma and body) by a Just About Right scale. Consumers selected at least three terms from a list of 12 words (well-being, displeasure, familiarity, sadness, fear, freshness, anguish, simplicity, relaxation, anger, joy and surprise) to describe their emotional status after tasting the samples. Results showed that the last session displayed the highest values for acceptance demonstrating a repeated exposure effect. The samples with less acceptability in session 1 (S1 and S2) were those with the greatest increase in session 4. Purchase intention was not affected by product exposure. The oldest consumer group (50–63 years old) exhibited the minimum levels of acceptance and purchase intention. The attribute diagnostic evaluations did not change through the four sessions indicating that the consumer opinion of its optimum point was maintained at the same level as the first impression. The word “familiarity” was selected for all the samples in the fourth and final session and also for sample 3 at session 3, confirming its impact and showing the exposure level necessary to develop it.     

Country of origin or EU/non-EU labelling of beef? Comparing structural reliability and validity of discrete choice experiments for measurement of consumer preferences for origin and extrinsic quality cues

The use of food labels and packaging information on place of origin and credence quality has increased, but it is still unclear how such information relates to consumer decisions and choices concerning the relative valuation of attributes. Valid measurement methods are needed to assess the importance attributed by the public to such information, but also to inform the industry about market demand. Discrete choice experiments (CEs) are frequently used to assess consumer preferences for food attributes. However, suitable methods are needed to reveal the probabilistic nature of preference data, so that heterogeneity can be explicitly accounted for. An R-index measure was modelled to account for choice probabilities in this study. Two surveys of Swedish residents, without (n = 506) and with (n = 278) a price vector, compared attribute importance for origin and extrinsic quality labelling of beef in CEs. Problems of structural reliability owing to unstable associations in attribute importance between formats were supported, but on levels rather than orderings. The R-index analysis of CE data revealed violations of attribute transitivity and dominance. Extending CE analysis to include choice probabilities may be useful for consumer profiling and for optimisation of product information. Labels with specific country-of-origin information instead of a wider EU/non-EU designation were the most determining attribute in this study.     

New product,familiar taste: Effects of slogans on cognitive and affective responses to an unknown food product among food neophobics and neophilics

Food neophobia is considered a potential barrier for the introduction of new food products. This study investigated how advertising slogans could influence cognitive and affective responses to a new product in food neophobics and food neophilics. An unknown dairy product was used to examine the effectiveness of three different slogans that stressed (1) product newness, (2) product familiarity, and (3) both of these attributes simultaneously. The study used a 2 × 3 between-subjects experimental design (N = 222). Food neophobics showed overall lower hedonic responses to the product than food neophilics. Slogan manipulation affected neophobics and neophilics differently. For neophobics, the slogan stressing familiarity of the product increased their perception of the product as “known”, but did not increase product attractiveness. For neophilics, the slogan conveying newness increased taste expectations and purchase intentions. The mixed slogan showed only partial effectiveness in increasing product attractiveness for neophilics. The results suggest that for the introduction of new food products it may be efficient to target neophilics and neophobics separately with different strategies. Concise slogans that convey only one message seem to work better than a paradoxical combination of statements in a combined slogan. Slogans aimed at food neophilics need to stress the newness of a product. However, slogans alone seem to be inefficient for neophobics.     

Relating consumer and trained panels’ discriminative sensitivities using vanilla flavored ice cream as a medium

This research investigated the possibility of uncovering a relationship between the sensitivities of trained and consumer panels in three experiments. In Experiment I, five studies were conducted using vanilla flavored ice cream. In each study, two ice cream samples differing in formulation and/or their manufacturing process were used. They were compared by both panels using same–different tests with sureness judgments (degree of difference methodology). Using the appropriate probabilistic Thurstonian model, d′ values, a measure of the underlying sensory difference perceived between the products, were calculated and the underlying relationship between the two panels’ sensitivities uncovered. An additional study was then conducted (Experiment II). A new pair of ice creams differing in fat content was first evaluated by the trained panel. Based on the estimated d′ value (trained panel’s measured d′ = 2.69), the corresponding consumer d′ value was predicted using the relationship uncovered in Part I (consumer panel’s predicted d′ = 1.54). The same pair of ice creams was then evaluated by the consumer panel. The measured d′ value for the consumers was almost identical to that predicted by the uncovered relationship (consumer panel’s measured d′ = 1.56). Along with the discrimination component of these studies, paired preference tests were conducted (Experiment III) in order to study a link between perceived difference and expressed preference. The results give an indication of when a perceived difference might start translating into a change in acceptability of the original product. These results indicate the potential of such an approach to predict consumers’ perceptions from an in-house semi-trained or trained panel, providing a useful predictive tool and a means of reducing repetitive and costly consumer testing.     

How innovativeness relates to social representation of new foods and to the willingness to try and use such foods

The relationship between domain specific innovativeness scale (DSI) and social representation (SR) components of new foods (suspicion of new foods; adherence to natural food; adherence to technology; eating as an enjoyment; eating as a necessity) was explored in a survey with Finnish consumers (N = 1156). Both DSI and SR were used to predict willingness to try/use new foods, categorized into six subgroups of which three were functional (cereal-based and otherwise functional foods; functional drinks), and the remaining three categories were modified dairy products, organic products, and energy drinks. Enjoyment and low suspicion predicted 27% of variation in DSI, which, in turn, predicted up to 6% of willingness to try categories of new foods, excluding organic products. When added to the predictive model, SR components increased the prediction of all food categories, particularly functional cereal-based and organic products (up to 20.4%). Thus, DSI predicted willingness to try new foods to some extent, but SR components, most of all low suspicion of new foods and adherence to natural food, significantly improved the prediction.     

A comparison of the labeled magnitude (LAM) scale,an 11-point category scale and the traditional 9-point hedonic scale

Schutz and Cardello [Schutz, H. G. & Cardello, A. V. (2001). A labeled affective magnitude (LAM) scale for assessing food liking/disliking. Journal of Sensory Studies, 16, 117–159] proposed the labeled magnitude (LAM) scale for measuring food acceptance. The LAM is a line scale anchored at its end points with the phrases “greatest imaginable like” and “greatest imaginable dislike” and uses as intermediate anchors the nine phrases of the traditional hedonic scale. In this study, three hedonic scales were compared, including the widely-used 9-point hedonic scale, the LAM scale, and an 11-point category scale using the LAM’s verbal anchors as category labels. Three groups of consumers (N = about 100 each) used one of the three scales to evaluate the acceptability of highly liked foods (orange juices, potato chips, cookies, and ice cream, with four samples of each). Scales were evaluated primarily on their ability to show differences in acceptability, the correspondence of acceptance ratings to preference ranking and the correspondence of stated product usage (e.g., purchase of pulp vs. non-pulp orange juice) to the product scoring highest. All three scales performed equally well, with no one scale showing a consistent superiority over another. All three scales were able to differentiate acceptability of the orange juices, chips and cookies. No scale differentiated among the ice creams, which had equal and high acceptability. All scales showed a strong correspondence between liking and preference rankings and also between the product rated highest and the type of product usually consumed, within each of the product categories.     

Sensory profiles and consumer acceptability of a range of sugar-reduced products on the UK market

Current UK intake of non-milk extrinsic sugars (NMES) is above recommendations. Reducing the sugar content of processed high sugar foods through reformulation is one option for reducing consumption of NMES at a population level. However, reformulation can alter the sensory attributes of food products and influence consumer liking. This study evaluated consumer acceptance of a selection of products that are commercially-available in the UK; these included regular and sugar-reduced baked beans, strawberry jam, milk chocolate, cola and cranberry & raspberry juice. Sweeteners were present in the reformulated chocolate (maltitol), cola (aspartame and acesulfame-K) and juice (sucralose) samples. Healthy, non-smoking consumers (n = 116; 55 men, 61 women, age: 33 ± 9 years; BMI: 25.7 ± 4.6 kg/m²) rated the products for overall liking and on liking of appearance, flavor and texture using a nine-point hedonic scale. There were significant differences between standard and reduced sugar products in consumers' overall liking and on liking of each modality (appearance, flavor and texture; all P < 0.0001). For overall liking, only the regular beans and cola were significantly more liked than their reformulated counterparts (P < 0.0001). Cluster analysis identified three consumer clusters that were representative of different patterns of consumer liking. For the largest cluster (cluster 3: 45%), there was a significant difference in mean liking scores across all products, except jam. Differences in liking were predominantly driven by sweet taste in 2 out of 3 clusters. The current research has demonstrated that a high proportion of consumers prefer conventional products over sugar-reduced products across a wide range of product types (45%) or across selected products (27%), when tasted unbranded, and so there is room for further optimization of commercial reduced sugar products that were evaluated in the current study. Future work should evaluate strategies to facilitate compliance to dietary recommendations on NMES and free sugars, such as the impact of sugar-reduced food exposure on their acceptance.