How reliable are the consumers? Comparison of sensory profiles from consumers and experts

This study compares expert and consumer sensory profiles for the same 12 perfumes in different ways: the discriminatory ability and reproducibility are analyzed through ANOVA and the panelists’ consensus through the correlation coefficients. Next, the two product spaces are first analyzed separately for each panel, and then compared through multiple factor analysis. Finally, the two panels are compared using the confidence ellipses methodology. These analyses show that the two panels give similar results with respect to the important criteria for panels (discrimination, consensus, reproducibility). The comparison of the two products spaces shows high similarity. From the confidence ellipses, it can be concluded that no significant differences exist for a given product between the two panels. Hence, in this particular case, the use of consumers appears to be a good alternative to the classical sensory profile provided by a trained panel.     

How do processing technology and formulation influence consumers’ choice of fruit juice?

The study aimed at investigating the influence of four variables related to processing technology and formulation on consumer’s choice of fruit juice, and to explore the moderating effect of food technology neophobia (FTN). A choice-conjoint task was implemented considering four variables: processing technology, added sugar, preservatives and cold pressing. Sixteen pairs of labels were presented to 369 Brazilian consumers to that indicate which of the products they would purchase. Then, they answered the FTN scales and a socio-demographic questionnaire. Data were analysed using a logit model with random parameters. Results showed that cold pressing, pressurisation and the claims ‘no added sugar’ and ‘no preservatives’ had a positive effect on consumers’ choices, whereas the claim ‘not pressurised’ had a negative effect. The FTN moderated the effect of the variables on participants' choices of fruit juices. The main difference between groups of consumers with different level of neophobia (low, medium and high) was related to the effect of information about juice processing.     

Examining trust in consumers as new food co-creators: Does the communicator matter?

Consumers increasingly fulfil the role of co-creators by collaborating with producers in new product development. Communicating that the product has been co-developed with consumers tends to positively influence consumer perceptions. However, research remains limited regarding who should communicate this information, particularly in the case of food products where consumer perceptions largely depend on the trust in the producer and product information. This paper examines the influence of co-creation information communicated by a company vs. by co-creators (i.e. co-creating consumers) on two dimensions of trust in consumers acting as new food co-creators: perceived honesty and perceived competence. Furthermore, it investigates how this effect is moderated by respondents’ familiarity with co-creation as an innovation process. Respondents were presented with the same new food product concept in an online experimental survey with consumers (n = 697) divided into three experimental groups. One group served as the control group with no co-creation information provided. The other two groups were informed that the product was the result of a co-creation activity between the company and consumers, using two types of information communicator. In one group, the company communicated the information, whereas in the other group, it was communicated by the co-creators. Our findings suggest that who communicates the co-creation information matters if consumers are not familiar with co-creation. In this case, co-creators are more likely to facilitate general consumer trust in peer consumers as new food co-creators. This study provides valuable insights for food companies wanting to leverage the value of co-creation for innovation by selecting the information communicator depending on the level of co-creation familiarity in the target market.     

Does the product test really make a difference? Evidence from the launch of a new wine

Although both the concept and the product tests are considered important in predicting the acceptance of new food products into the market, there is scant research in the relevant literature comparing the predictive power of both tests, simultaneously, for the same product. To shed light on this line of research, this study compares the explanatory capacities of concept and product testing in the introduction of a new wine. To achieve this, a structural equation model, integrating sensory benefits, social norms and emotional dimensions with two consumer samples (one for the concept testing and another for the product testing) was proposed and tested. The results obtained showed that the modeĺs explanatory capacity did not increase significantly when the new wine was tested (product testing) in comparison to when only information about the wine was presented (concept testing). In both cases, the variables that explain purchase intention are the same. These results have important practical implications and open new research lines that can contribute to the theories that try to explain the acceptance of new foods.     

Does consumption of tobacco and alcohol affect household food security? Evidence from rural India

Using a nationally representative household-level dataset on consumption expenditure, this paper examines the crowding-out effects of tobacco and alcohol spending on food and non-food consumption in rural India. We found a positive relationship between spending on these temptation goods and household income, but in proportionate terms the poor and socially-disadvantaged households spent more on such goods compared to others. In general, their consumption crowded out food expenditure but not as much as non-food expenditure. Tobacco expenditure crowded out more of consumer durables followed by foodgrains, healthcare and education. However, among the poor, foodgrains were traded-off more. Likewise, spending on alcohol also crowded out foodgrains, but the effects were larger for consumer durables and starker among the poor. Across social groups too, consumption of tobacco as well as alcohol led to a reallocation of budgets with consumer durables being most displaced followed by foodgrains. On the whole, the crowding out effects were larger for tobacco than alcohol and were greater for households belonging to the lower rungs of both income and social order. We identified that such crowding-out effects operated through peer effects or social interactions; hence the key inference is that government interventions aimed towards controlling tobacco or alcohol consumption would be more effective if these targeted peer groups and their group leaders.     

Consumer valuation of European nutritional and health claims: Do taste and attention matter?

Healthier eating and convenience are two important and often divergent aspects of contemporary diet patterns. With the intention of guiding consumers to make more informed food purchase decisions, policy makers, such as the European Union, emphasize the need to shift dietary patterns toward healthier food by introducing nutritional claims (NCs) and health claims (HCs). The purpose of this study is to (i) explore the impact of NCs and HCs on a healthy food product (yogurt), (ii) investigate consumer choices through a discrete choice experiment (DCE), (iii) examine the role of taste as a key food attribute influencing the purchase decision process, and (iv) explore the visual attention that consumers pay to NCs and HCs. The results from a generalized mixed logit model suggest that there is a relationship between the most highly valued NCs and HCs from the stated preferences and visual attention in terms of fixation count. This relationship affirms that the final product selection is based not only on the type of labeling on the package but also on the visual attention that consumers pay to it. Tasting a healthy food product resulted in negative utility, but greater visual attention attached to NCs and HCs and a lower percentage of attribute non-attendance (ANA).     

What factors affect consumers’ dining sentiments and their ratings: Evidence from restaurant online review data

Online review data refers to customer opinions (e.g., text reviews, numerical ratings, and personal information) left on online retailing and review platforms. Here, we provide insight for food-related consumer sentiment study by using online review data. We present a case study using Yelp restaurant review data on what affects restaurant customers’ sentiment responses to dining out. In our case study, a sentiment-analysis method was used to extract and generate sentiment indices from 175,879 text-based Yelp restaurant reviews. We examined the relationships between our sentiment indices and ratings and showed that online review data can provide information about consumer dining sentiments. By using semi-automatic content analysis method, we first counted the most frequent 300 words in all text reviews and manually categorized those most frequent words into five topics: “food,” “service,” “expenditure,” “social,” and “miscellany”. We then computed the fraction of topic words in each category over the total topic words for each review. We found that (1) consumers used more positive sentiment words than negative sentiment words in their Yelp restaurant text reviews. (2) The proportion of positive sentiment words in reviews was positively related to ratings; the proportion of negative sentiment words in reviews was negatively related to ratings. (3) Relative to food, consumers used more sentiment words (both positive and negative) when they were discussing restaurant service. (4) Consumers used the least sentiment words when they were discussing social-related topics compared with the other topics (food, service and expenditure). (5) Consumers rated restaurant service higher than they rated food.     

Developments in food processing and increasing gaps in consumers competence of food handling––the challenge for nutrition policy in Europe

Human evolution is accompanied by innovations in food processing. The results are remarkable: there is food security, as there is surplus on cheap, safe and high quality food. Despite this situation nutritional studies reveal that there are still nutritional problems in the world. Food security is only a precondition but no guarantee for nutrition security.The causes of nutritional problems are complex. In industrialised societies the importance of the last links of the food chain, being the competence of consumers regarding food and nutrition, is ignored. Whereas the global knowledge on food processing is increasing continuously, a reverse trend regarding consumer competence can be observed. The consequences of these trends have to be observed and studied. People with less food and nutrition competence are susceptible to disorientation and misguided behaviour. It is likely that the trend accelerates since the traditional ways to learn food and nutrition competence are diminishing; even in the case of food professionals, like cooks or bakers, there is clear evidence of lack of practical experiences.Nutrition and food policy has to focus on this gap. The most important nutritional problems are no longer those of food quality, but related to consumer behaviour. Today’s consumers need high qualification to use all the opportunities to manage the everyday tasks. Without fostering such training (not only for the general population, but also for food professionals) we in Europe are in danger of becoming a food illiterate population.     

Effect of high-pressure processing on flavonoids,hydroxycinnamic acids,dihydrochalcones and antioxidant activity of apple ‘Golden Delicious’ from different geographical origin

The influence of high-pressure processing (HPP) (400, 500 and 600 MPa at 35 °C for 5 min) on different classes of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity (AA) of ‘Golden Delicious’ apple from two different growing regions, northeastern of Spain (lowland climate) (S-apples) and north of Italy (mid-mountain climate) (I-apples) was investigated. Total hydroxycinnamic acids, total dihydrochalcones and total flavan-3-ols content were higher in S-apple (untreated and HPP-treated) than in I-apples and total flavonols content was higher in I-apples. HPP affected phenolic compounds and AA depending on the apple geographical origin. 400 MPa/35 °C/5 min increased total flavonols (30%) and maintained total phenolic compounds determined by HPLC (TP-HPLC) in S-apples. The higher increase of TP-HPLC (54%) was achieved when I-apple was treated at 600 MPa. Untreated and HPP-treated I-apples displayed higher AA than S-apples. HPP (400 and 600 MPa) increased AA in I-apple. Positive correlations were found between TP-HPLC and AA (TP-FC, DPPH^·, ABTS^·+ and FRAP) in both Italian and Spanish apples.Industrial relevanceThe apples of cultivar ‘Golden Delicious’ are one of the most consumed fruits in the UE. High-pressure processing (HPP) of these fruits acquires great importance to obtain ingredients and apple functional foods highly demanded by consumers. For this, it is necessary to know the process variables and plant material that favor greater extraction of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity characteristics. This paper provides useful results to help fruit processor to select the appropriate HPP conditions and the geographical origin of ‘Golden Delicious’ apple to obtain apple-based products with high content on different classes of phenolic compounds with beneficial health effects.     

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.     

Effect of thermal and high-pressure processing on the nutritional value and quality attributes of a nectarine purée with industrial origin during the refrigerated storage

The application of hydrostatic high pressure on an industrial line of nectarine (Prunus persica L.) purées was assessed in comparison with the traditional thermal treatment of pasteurization. Changes after thermal processing (85 °C, 5 min) and after high-pressure processing (HPP: 450 or 600 MPa for 5 or 10 min) and during the refrigerated storage (60 d) of an industrially produced nectarine purée were evaluated. Conventional heat pasteurization as well as HPP showed similar microorganisms' inactivation and maintained the microbial stability of purées until the end of the refrigerated storage (60 d). In general, thermally treated purée and HP-treated purée at 600 MPa showed more intense color changes after processing than the other treatment. In addition, thermally treated purée showed more intense color changes during storage than HPP. The highest carotenoids extractability was found in those purées treated at the lowest high-pressure-treatment intensity and holding time (450 MPa/5 min), but at the end of the storage (day 60), no differences in individual or total carotenoid levels were found between the purées. HPP at 600 MPa/10 min showed the highest polyphenols content after the treatment and during the storage. At day 0, significantly higher values were found of total antioxidant activity in purée HP-treated at 450 MPa/10 min than in untreated purée; while at the end of the storage, HP-treated purée at 600 MPa/10 min had the highest antioxidant activity. Hydrostatic high-pressure application in the industrial line of nectarine purée presented some advantages compared to the thermal treatment; however, some of the changes found were lessen during the storage period. In addition, more studies need to be carried out for HP-treatment intensity optimization.     

Are Australian wine consumers willing to pay for the expert service of wine retailers?

Retailing is continually evolving with different strategies used over time. In this era of customer relationships building, this study investigated an innovation gap; about Australian consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) a premium for the expert service of wine retailers. The study objectives were to evaluate factors that influence WTPs of wine retailers and to measure WTPs. A 2099 usable survey was obtained Australia-wide. The contingent valuation method was used to elicit the willingness of consumers. The data were analysed using the ordered probit model. On average, the premium respondents indicated WTP was $0.60 for the expert service of wine retailers. This study found that consumers are willing to pay for the expert service of wine retailers, and that consumers rely on the use of risk reduction strategy not only because of their perception of risk but they are also more desirous of wine knowledge and are willing to acquire it, even at a cost. This makes a strong case for the development and provision strategies of store dynamic elements such as expert service. The study has limitation as it is exploratory and cross-sectional. Confirmatory and longitudinal surveys amongst others are recommended.     

To meat or not to meat? Comparing empowered meat consumers’ and anti-consumers’ preferences for sustainability labels

An increasing awareness of the impact of high levels of meat consumption on health and environmental sustainability is leading to a growing number of consumers reducing or avoiding meat. To address gaps in the literature, we compare and contrast the importance of the seven sustainability-related labels for three consumer groups (meat eaters, meat reducers and vegetarians) using a choice experiment involving 600 UK respondents (200 meat eaters, 200 meat reducers, 200 vegetarians). Type of meat, price and fat content labels have the largest overall impact on consumer choices. The impact of carbon footprint, method of production, origin and brand labels varies across consumer groups.We subsequently use latent class analysis to identify heterogeneous intra-group consumer segments, based on their preferences, and highlight the socio-demographic differences between them. For meat eaters, three consumer segments are identified (empowered, traditional and price conscious meat eaters). Meat reducers are divided into health curtailers and sustainable consumers, while only one segment of vegetarians is identified. By drawing on signalling theory and the consumer empowerment and anti-consumption literature, we identify links between sustainable consumption, consumer empowerment and anti-consumption and provide valuable insights for policymakers and practitioners seeking to utilise food labels to encourage more sustainable consumption.     

Effect of consumers’ origin on perceived sensory quality,liking and liking drivers: A cross-cultural study on European cheeses

We aim at studying consumers’ Perceived Sensory Quality (PSQ) concept. We manipulated a priori both familiarity (contrast local vs. foreign cheeses) and quality level (contrast PDO or traditional cheeses vs. their non-PDO and/or industrial counterpart). The study was run in four European countries. Thus, eight cheeses (one PDO or traditional cheese and one non-PDO cheese from each of the four European countries) were assessed by a total of 438 consumers (from 100 to 120 consumers from each region) in terms of PSQ and liking. The cheeses were also described by a trained panel.PSQ depended on both consumers’ and cheeses’ origin. The main finding is that in the three countries with PDO culture, consumers identified domestic PDO cheese as having a significantly higher PSQ than its non-PDO counterpart, whereas they were not able to differentiate PDO and non-PDO cheeses from other countries. Overall, sensory drivers of PSQ were similar across consumers of different origin but, the relationship between PSQ and liking is higher for non-local cheeses than for local cheeses. Overall, the results support the idea that PSQ is related to liking but is also modulated by product familiarity.     

Screening and Characterization of Lactobacillus sp. from the Water of Cassava’s Fermentation for Selection as Probiotics

The present study aimed to evaluate selected probiotic properties of Lactobacilli isolated from the water of submerged cassava fermentation. Following Lactobacilli isolation, isolates were screened for their antimicrobial activity. Acid and bile tolerances, bile salt hydrolase (Bsh) activity spectrum were assessed. Among the 113 isolates obtained, 16 showed a broad antimicrobial activity spectrum against the indicator microorganisms. From these 16, 12 were found acid and bile resistant. They hydrolyzed glycoconjugated or tauroconjugated bile salts. From the four bile Bsh genes screened, only Bsh-Lp1 was found in five isolates. They identified as Lactobacillus paraplantarum, Lactobacillus paracasei, Lactobacillus brevis, and Lactobacillus plantarum. Based on the principal component analysis, L. paracasei 62L, L. plantarum 85L and 86L were selected as the most promising strains. These results suggest that water from submerged cassava fermentation can be a source of Lactobacilli with high probiotic potential.     

Diagonal or vertical? An empirical study of the impact of food brand logo orientation on consumers’ food perception and food attitude

This study explores the role of food brand logo orientation on consumers’ perceptions and attitudes regarding food products through four studies. Study 1 examines the effects of food brand logo orientation (diagonal vs. vertical) on consumer perceptions of food tastiness and risk. The findings suggest that diagonal (vs. vertical) food brand logos result in higher (lower) taste and risk perception in branded food. Study 2 reveals the underlying mechanisms of this effect by introducing perceived movement as a mediator between logo orientation and food perception. The results support the inference that movement is an underlying mechanism for the effect. Study 3 examines the effects of brand logo orientation and regulatory focus on consumer attitudes regarding branded food. The results suggest that for consumers with a promotion focus, a diagonal (vs. vertical) oriented logo leads to a more favorable attitude toward the food. For consumers with a prevention focus, a diagonal (vs. vertical) oriented logo leads to a less favorable attitude toward the food. Study 4 establishes validity of the above findings regarding native English speakers.