What’s in a name? The effects of sound symbolism and package shape on consumer responses to food products

In the global market, consumers are exposed to multiple brand names in unfamiliar languages. Even meaningless words can trigger certain semantic associations. This phenomenon is known as sound symbolism, i.e., the direct link between a sound and a meaning. Sound symbolism helps consumers to form product expectations based on unfamiliar brand names. Product expectations can be also formed based on various elements of packaging design, including colours, shapes and materials. This study investigated the effects of unfamiliar brand names (“Asahi” vs. “Ramune”), package shapes (round vs. angular) and product types (muesli cookie vs. butter cookie) varied in perceived healthiness (low vs. high) on perceived product healthfulness, product evaluation, taste expectations and purchase intention. General health interest (GHI) was used as the moderating variable. The results showed that package shape and product type significantly influenced the perceived product healthfulness of the two experimental products. Brand name alone did not affect consumer responses. However, the congruent combination of product shape and brand name (round “Ramune” cookie) was preferred to incongruent combinations. Furthermore, the congruent combinations (“Ramune” butter cookie and “Asahi” muesli cookie) were expected to taste better and were more likely to be purchased compared to incongruent combinations. These results suggest that congruency between the type of product, brand name, and package design is important for creating a successful brand strategy. The study also showed that the effects of sound symbolism and congruency on perceived product healthfulness are more pronounced for consumers with low interest in healthy eating. However, further research is needed to generalise our results to other product groups.     

References to home-made and natural foods on the labels of ultra-processed products increase healthfulness perception and purchase intention: Insights for policy making

As nutritional recommendations change, new marketing strategies are expected to appear on food labels to convey the idea that products are healthful and aligned with the recommendations. In this context, the objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of references to ‘home-made’, images of natural foods and nutritional warnings on consumers’ healthfulness perception and purchase intention of labels of ultra-processed products with excessive content of nutrients associated with non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The study was conducted with 790 Uruguayan Facebook users (65% female, 18–89 years old), diverse in terms of educational and socio-economic levels. A choice experiment involving labels of four categories of ultra-processed products (burgers, cookies, instant soup and instant vanilla milk custard) was implemented. For each product category, eight sets of two labels differing in the presence of references to home-made, images of natural foods and nutritional warnings were designed. Half of the participants were asked to indicate the healthier product, whereas the other half were asked to indicate the product they would purchase. Data were analyzed using mixed logit models. The inclusion of references to home-made and images of natural foods on the labels had a positive effect on purchase intention and tended to create the belief that products were healthful. Nutritional warnings decreased healthfulness perception and discouraged participants' choice. In three of the product categories images of natural foods created a health halo that reduced the effect of nutritional warnings on product choice. Results from the present work suggest the need to develop stricter labelling regulations for ultra-processed products with high content of nutrients associated with NCDs.     

The impact of sugar-related claims on perceived healthfulness,caloric value and expected taste of food products

Food packaging usually includes multiple cues, including claims about nutrients that may modulate how the consumer perceives (and behaves towards) the product. In the current work, we systematically examined how different types of claims about sugar influenced the perception of food product categories (i.e., yogurts, ice creams, cookies, and breakfast cereals). In two experiments (combined n = 406), participants were asked to evaluate the perceived healthfulness, caloric value, and expected taste of products with (vs. without) sugar-related claims. Specifically, the claims were on the sugar content (“0% sugar”, “sugar-free”, “no added sugars”, “low sugar” - Experiment 1) or on the type of sugars or sweeteners of natural origin (“sucrose”, “cane sugar”, “honey” and “stevia” - Experiment 2).Experiment 1 revealed that all products with sugar-related claims were rated as healthier, less caloric, and less tasty than the regular alternatives. Still, products with the “low sugar” claim were perceived as the least healthy, most caloric, and tastiest. In Experiment 2, we observed that products with “stevia” claim were rated as healthier, less caloric, and less tasty than regular products. In both experiments, the frequency of consumption of products with sugar-related claims was positively associated with the general perception of these products, the influence of nutritional information on consumption decisions, attention to sugar intake, and interest in nutrition.Overall, our results show that sugar-related claims may influence consumer's perceptions about food products, but the direction of that influence depends on the type of claim and evaluative dimension.     

How do consumers perceive reformulated foods after the implementation of nutritional warnings? Case study with frankfurters in Chile

Nutritional warnings have emerged as a promising front-of-package nutrition labelling scheme to discourage consumption of products with high content of nutrients associated with non-communicable diseases. One of the objectives of this policy is to encourage the food industry to reformulate their products. However, information about consumers’ perception of reformulated products in the context of the implementation of this policy is still limited. The aim of this study was to assess the relative influence of different types of reformulation on consumers’ perceived healthfulness and purchase intention, using frankfurters as case study. A conjoint analysis was implemented considering a fractional factorial design involving 5 2-level variables: brand type (artisanal/industrial), sodium reduction (with/without), saturated fat reduction (with/without), fibre claim (with/without) and cholesterol claim (with/without). An online survey with 494 consumers was implemented one year after the implementation of nutritional warnings in Chile. Participants were randomly divided into two groups, one of which evaluated purchase intention (n = 249) and the other evaluated perceived healthfulness (n = 245). Data were analysed using analysis of variance and cluster analysis. Results showed that reformulated products without nutritional warnings for sodium and saturated fat were perceived as more healthful and had higher purchase intention scores than then regular counterparts. On the contrary, nutrient claims did not have a relevant effect on consumers’ perception. Heterogeneity in consumers’ reaction to the reformulated products was found and was mainly related to consumption frequency of the product category. Results provide insights for policy makers and food companies in countries considering the implementation of nutritional warnings.     

Are nutritional warnings more efficient than claims in shaping consumers’ healthfulness perception?

Nutritional warnings highlighting high content of nutrients associated with non-communicable diseases have been recently proposed as a tool to facilitate the identification of unhealthful products. However, several different cues raising positive healthful associations are usually included on food packages, which can reduce the effectiveness of nutritional warnings. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of nutritional warnings and claims on the perceived healthfulness of four product categories, frequently consumed in Brazil: yogurt, juice, bread and crackers. For each category, eight packages were designed following a full-factorial experimental design with three two-level factors: two types of claims (present vs. absent) and nutritional warnings highlighting high content of saturated fat, sugar and/or sodium (present vs. absent). A total of 820 adults participated in an online survey. They were randomly divided into four groups, each of which evaluated the packages of one product category. For each package, participants were asked to rate their perceived healthfulness using a 7-point scale (1: not healthy at all; 7: very healthy). Data were analyzed using ANOVA considering main effects and interactions. Results showed that although claims had a significant and positive effect on the perceived healthfulness of all categories, nutritional warnings had the largest relative importance and significantly decreased perceived healthfulness. Participants who were more willing to compromise pleasure for health tended to give more relative importance to the warnings. Results suggest that nutritional warning could facilitate the identification of products with unfavorable nutrient profile and can contribute to override the positive healthful associations generated by claims.     

The influence of taste-congruent soundtracks on visual attention and food choice: A cross-cultural eye-tracking study in Chinese and Danish consumers

Sound can have a profound impact on our eating experience and behavior. The term “sonic seasoning”, arising from crossmodal correspondences, denotes the tendency for soundtracks with congruent taste/flavor attributes to alter people’s food perception. However, the implicit behavior effects of such sound-taste correspondence have not yet been tested. Employing eye-tracking technology, the current study explored the influence of custom-composed taste-congruent soundtracks on visual attention to food, and how this audio-visual relationship differs across cultures. Seventy-two participants (37 Chinese; 35 Danish) were each exposed to three sound conditions (“sweet music”, “salty music”, no music) while observing different food items in a choice paradigm. Across both cultures, participants spent more time fixating on sweet food while listening to “sweet music” and salty food when listening to “salty music”, while no differences were observed in the no music condition. Danish participants had, regardless of sound condition, longer fixation times on the food images compared to their Chinese counterparts. Participants’ choices in each sound condition were consistent with fixation time spent, implying a clear congruency effect between music and choice behavior. Our findings provide evidence of how specifically tailored music can guide consumers’ visual attention to specific food items, suggesting that the brain indeed integrates multiple streams of sensory information during decision-making. The cross-cultural aspect of our study can ultimately be valuable for understanding auditory nudging in different market segments.     

The fair trade food labeling health halo: Effects of fair trade labeling on consumption and perceived healthfulness

The purpose of fair trade certification is to assure consumers that products support responsible companies, empower farmers, workers, and fisherman, and protect the environment. Yet, could it be possible that consumers infer greater healthfulness of foods containing such labels, and subsequently increase their consumption of fair trade certified foods? Across three studies, we demonstrate that fair trade labels can increase consumption by 26% to 31%. In study 1, we demonstrate that individuals consume more if the food product contains a fair trade label. In the subsequent studies we home in on the underlying process, demonstrating that the effect is mediated by the product’s perceived healthfulness (study 2 and 3) To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that (1) tests the effects of fair trade labels from third-party certifiers in package-based experiments, (2) examines the effects of fair trade labels on consumption, and (3) directly tests an overall health halo—perceived healthfulness—as the underlying process. In doing so, this research contributes to the values-based labeling and health halo literatures, while offering implications for public policy makers, consumers, and food marketers.     

An emotion-based typology of wine consumers

Product consumption is a sensory experience that can evoke a wide range of emotional responses; and accordingly, the emotional component of food consumption has been widely addressed and has appeared in marketing literature with increasing frequency.To date, there is abundant literature on emotions elicited by product consumption, but there is little research concerning emotions and wine. In this context, we develop an emotion-based segmentation based on the emotions that consumers experience when consuming wine, both considering the valence and arousal dimensions of emotions. In addition, we profile and characterize the emotion-based obtained segments.For this purpose, an emotion-based cluster analysis is conducted through a two-step cluster procedure, followed by a MANOVA test on data from 1269 wine consumers.Our findings show that the average wine consumer does not exist, and that wine consumers cannot be seen as a homogenous group. More precisely, four clusters emerge from our results experiencing different emotions in wine consumption: “emotionally unattached”, “negatives”, “contented circumspects” and “wine lovers”. Results suggest that “wine lovers” is the most attractive segment due to their strong wine emotional bond; being the “negatives” the most challenging segment for wine makers. One useful insight for wineries is that it may not be possible to satisfy all these segments with one single wine.     

Beer and wine consumers' perceptions of the nutritional value of alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages

ABSTRACT:  In general beer has not been portrayed as part of a balanced diet. However, red wine has been promoted as a beneficial part of a nutritious diet. The evidence is that beer is at least the equal of wine from a nutritional perspective and in countering ailments such as coronary heart disease. This study used surveys to compare beer and wine consumers' perceptions of alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages. The consumers ranked 7 beverages based upon perceived healthfulness both before and after they were exposed to nutritional information about the beverages. The ranked data were analyzed using analysis of variance. The variance due to the 3-way interaction of place of recruitment, beverage, and ranking was found to be significant at P < 0.05. There was no significant difference between genders. Overall, consumers of alcoholic beverages perceived red wine to be more healthful than the other 6 beverages, including beer and white wine. The perceived healthfulness of a beverage does not appear to be the main factor driving the choice of beverage. Nutritional information does impact consumers' perceptions of the healthfulness of beverages. Consumers who are predominately beer drinkers were more heavily influenced by nutritional information than consumers who were predominately wine drinkers.     

How do different warning signs compare with the guideline daily amount and traffic-light system?

Nutritional warnings are rapidly gaining relevance, particularly in the region of the Americas, as a front-of-package nutrition labelling scheme that facilitate the identification of products with high content of nutrients associated with non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Several graphic designs are being developed as countries discuss the implementation of nutritional warnings, which makes it necessary to develop research to evaluate their efficacy. In this context, the aim of the present work was to compare the efficacy of a series of nutritional warnings that are being considered by Brazilian national authorities for the country with two of the most studied schemes: the guidelines daily amounts (GDA) and the traffic light system. Two studies were conducted. In the first one, visual search was conducted with 62 participants to evaluate the time needed by them to identify the schemes on food labels and to identify whether a product had high nutrient content. In the second study, an online survey with 1932 participants was used to evaluate their ability to use FOP nutrition labelling schemes to correctly identify the most healthful product in a set, as well as high nutrient content in a product. In addition, the influence of FOP nutrition labelling schemes on perceived healthfulness was evaluated. Finally, consumers’ perception of the schemes was gathered using an open-ended question. Results confirmed the advantages of nutritional warnings compared to the GDA and the traffic-light system to facilitate the identification of products with high content of nutrients associated with NCDs. In addition, the use of familiar signs frequently used to convey a ‘warning message’ outperformed other unfamiliar signs in terms of their ability to facilitate the interpretation of nutrition information. Regarding colour, black signs tended to required significantly less time to be detected when included on colour food labels compared to red signs.     

What is satiating? Consumer perceptions of satiating foods and expected satiety of protein-based meals

Designing food items with high satiating capacity is an area of increasing interest. It would be desirable for consumers to be able to make informed choices about individual products based on understanding the energy balance and the meaning of satiety.In the present work, the perceptions that consumers have of the word “satiating” and of different protein-based dishes were investigated in two populations (100 subjects related to the field of food science and technology and 100 unrelated to it). The Word Association (WA) technique was used, asking the consumers for the first four words that came into their mind when they thought of “satiating food”. This was followed by a Free Listing (FL) exercise that asked them to list four satiating food items. They also completed a Nutritional Knowledge Questionnaire. To evaluate the consumers' perception of the expected satiating capacity of different protein-based meals, they were shown eight photographs of equicaloric dishes composed of one piece of protein (beef, pork, chicken or fish) and one of two different side vegetables (salad or boiled potatoes). The expected satiety scores ranked fish last among the protein foods and potatoes last among the side vegetables. The results indicated that “satiating” food was related more with the immediate sensation of “stomach full” than with the cessation of hunger. This was reinforced by the mention of negative sensations of discomfort after a copious meal. Hearty dishes and meat were the meals most associated with satiating food items.     

“As long as it is not irradiated” – Influencing factors of US consumers’ acceptance of food irradiation

Innovative microbial decontamination strategies, such as food irradiation or treatment of foods with protective cultures, offer solutions for today’s food industry to produce safe food with appropriate shelf-life and quality. However, consumers frequently exhibit strong aversions towards highly processed foods and unfamiliar and artificially-sounding food technologies. This paper aimed at examining consumers’ quality perceptions of foods treated with different decontamination strategies and linking these findings to the theoretical assumptions of the affect heuristic in two online studies with US consumers (study 1: N = 184, study 2: N = 65). The main finding from study 1 was that the label “treated with food irradiation” had a detrimental effect on consumers’ quality perception of different foods, while “treated with food ionization” did to a lesser degree, despite being another term for the identical decontamination strategy. The suggestion that this detrimental effect origins in negative affect and associations raised by the term “food irradiation,” was substantiated in study 2. Consumers, who have negative feelings towards nuclear power, perceive irradiated foods as lower in quality, perceived less benefits and more risks associated with food irradiation and exhibit lower overall acceptance of this technology. The findings of the two studies are discussed in light of recommendations for the food industry and regulation. This study stresses the importance of consulting with social science ahead of the implementation of a new food technology.     

Consumer understanding of sustainability concept in agricultural products

The term “sustainability” is based on three main pillars: environment, society and economy. To achieve sustainable development, agriculture is one of the main fields to be considered and it is key to address economic, environmental and ethical problems. Besides, consumers are increasingly demanding foods produced under sustainable practices and aiming to get involved in the process of enhancing food sustainability. Under such premises, a study was carried out with more than 3600 consumers in 6 countries (Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Spain and USA). Participants were asked questions organized in two main topics: general sustainability and willingness to pay on different food categories. In general, results showed that consumers thought that a sustainable product is “environmentally friendly”, “healthier”, has been grown using “few chemicals” and “have better quality”. More than 30% of consumers in the US and Spain were not willing to pay more for sustainable products. This percentage decreased to 20% in China, Mexico and Brazil and reached the lowest value in India (~14%). The main conclusion is that consumers are not fully aware of the importance of sustainability; in general, consumers tend to associate sustainable production with just organic farming and higher quality.     

Using product popularity to stimulate choice for light products in supermarkets: An examination in virtual reality

With the use of virtual reality, this study investigates the potential for popularity cues to stimulate consumers to choose healthier products (versus regular products) within product categories in a supermarket context. Popularity may increase perceived product quality and perceived certainty about that quality. Healthier alternatives (i.e., light products) within a category often have a taste disadvantage compared to regular counterparts as a result of their trimmed down nutrient profiles (low in fat, sugar or salt). Because consumers are more uncertain about the taste of these light products, a popularity cue may have a larger effect on product choice for these options than on the choice for regular products. This hypothesis is tested in an experiment using virtual reality to realistically display a supermarket context. In the main experiment, a sample of 300 consumers was asked to shop for specific groceries, using existing brands and products. The results demonstrate that consumers are more likely to choose light products when these are combined with a popularity cue. In contrast, the popularity cue did not affect choice for the regular alternatives. These results have important implications for research, and for public-policy makers and food retailers that aim to stimulate healthful consumption.     

Conjoint analysis as a tool to identify improvements in the packaging for irradiated strawberries

Consumers have shown aversion for the term “irradiation”, obligatorily present in packages of irradiated food. Through ratings based conjoint analysis (RBCA) and modified-choice based conjoint analysis (MCBCA) we quantified the effect of characteristics of packages of irradiated strawberries on purchase intent and likelihood of choosing this product. The factors “explanatory information” and “radura symbol” affected consumer assessment. The factor called “preservation method information” showed no significant effect (p = 0.405). Thus, the best packaging should present the information “food treated by ionisation process” or “food treated by irradiation process”, “to ensure the freshness and quality for a longer time” and should have the presence of radura symbol. Brazilian and U.S. laws require the use of the term “irradiation”. Therefore, changes in legislation may not be necessary. These results assist in the production of packaging for irradiated strawberries, providing important information for assessing the primary factors that result in a greater intent to select and purchase this product.     

Asians’ Facial Responsiveness to Basic Tastes by Automated Facial Expression Analysis System

Growing evidence shows that consumer choices in real life are mostly driven by unconscious mechanisms rather than conscious. The unconscious process could be measured by behavioral measurements. This study aims to apply automatic facial expression analysis technique for consumers’ emotion representation, and explore the relationships between sensory perception and facial responses. Basic taste solutions (sourness, sweetness, bitterness, umami, and saltiness) with 6 levels plus water were used, which could cover most of the tastes found in food and drink. The other contribution of this study is to analyze the characteristics of facial expressions and correlation between facial expressions and perceptive hedonic liking for Asian consumers. Up until now, the facial expression application researches only reported for western consumers, while few related researches investigated the facial responses during food consuming for Asian consumers. Experimental results indicated that facial expressions could identify different stimuli with various concentrations and different hedonic levels. The perceived liking increased at lower concentrations and decreased at higher concentrations, while samples with medium concentrations were perceived as the most pleasant except sweetness and bitterness. High correlations were founded between perceived intensities of bitterness, umami, saltiness, and facial reactions of disgust and fear. Facial expression disgust and anger could characterize emotion “dislike,” and happiness could characterize emotion “like,” while neutral could represent “neither like nor dislike.” The identified facial expressions agree with the perceived sensory emotions elicited by basic taste solutions. The correlation analysis between hedonic levels and facial expression intensities obtained in this study are in accordance with that discussed for western consumers.     

The scientific basis for healthful carbohydrate profile

Dietary guidelines indicate that complex carbohydrates should provide around half of the calories in a balanced diet, while sugars (i.e., simple carbohydrates) should be limited to no more than 5–10% of total energy intake. To achieve this public health goal a collective effort from different entities including governments, food & beverage industries and consumers is required. Some food companies have committed to continually reduce sugars in their products. Different solutions can be used to replace sugars in food products but it is important to ensure that these solutions are more healthful than the sugars they replace. The objectives of this paper are, (1) to identify carbohydrates and carbohydrates sources to promote and those to limit for dietary intake and food product development, based on current knowledge about the impact of carbohydrates on the development of dental caries, obesity and cardio-metabolic disorders (2) to evaluate the impact of food processing on the quality of carbohydrates and (3) to highlight the challenges of developing healthier products due to the limitations and gaps in food regulations, science & technology and consumer education.     

Big issues for a small technology: Consumer trade-offs in acceptance of nanotechnology in food

Nanotechnology offers many potential applications across the supply chain which could result in a more sustainable agriculture and food system. However, considerable challenges still exist in realising its potential, including consumer acceptance. This research examines consumer perspectives on two different nanotechnology applications (in packaging for chicken fillets and in cheese) using conjoint analysis. A face-to-face survey of 1046 Irish adults was undertaken. It finds that technology has a significant impact on consumer food choices (higher levels of acceptance with traditional technology rather than nanotechnology), that different applications of a technology can result in varying levels of acceptance (higher acceptance for nanotechnology in packaging of chicken fillets rather than in the cheese product) and that offering salient benefits (e.g. health or lower price) can off-set technology concerns in some but not all instances. Differences amongst consumer segments also exist with price having low utility for “health focused consumers” but having high utility for “conventional consumers”.Industrial relevanceThis research provides industry with an overview of consumer perceptions around two potential nano-inside and nano-outside product applications elicited through a nationally representative quantitative survey (n = 1046). The results from this work can contribute to the development of a research commercialisation strategy that will yield products and processes of value to consumers, and thus will have greater likelihood of acceptance. Moreover, this work points to the need to involve consumers at an early stage in the product development process and in considering potential commercialisation pathways, particularly with regard to food production where consumers may be especially sensitive or risk-averse. Appreciating the concerns and preferences of consumers and eliciting their overall level of acceptance with regard to particular technologies and product applications is crucial for their success.