Comparison of explicit vs. implicit measurements in predicting food purchases

In this study, we aimed to investigate the relation between consumer purchases of three branded blueberry flavored quarks and respective responses of the same consumers to these products using 1) traditional explicit consumer surveys measuring verbalized impressions, 2) novel explicit pictorial emoji scores and 3) implicit behavioral responses produced during an approach-avoidance task (AAT). Explicit measures (n = 134) were collected before product tasting (expectation condition) during an online survey, and after product tasting (perception condition) during a Central Location Test (CLT). Implicit measures were collected with a subset of 56 randomly selected subjects during the CLT. These included electroencephalographic (EEG) measures, joystick response speed and pupil size responses. During one month following the CLT, respondents registered their purchases via an online diary. Bivariate correlations indicated that explicit scores correlate better with product purchase amounts in the perception condition than in the expectation condition. Furthermore, verbalized ratings correlated better with product purchase amounts than pictorial emoji scores. Of the implicit responses, EEG responses produced the strongest correlations with purchase behavior, similar to those observed for verbalized explicit ratings in the expectation condition. Multiple linear regression modelling indicated that the best-fitting model consisted of an emoji score, purchase intention score, pleasantness score, brand relationship score, and implicit joystick response speed. Overall, purchase behavior was associated stronger with explicit responses than with implicit responses. Yet, the prominent role of implicit joystick response speed in the multivariate regression model suggests its unique contribution to the understanding of purchase behavior.     

How do implicit/explicit attitudes and emotional reactions to sustainable logo relate? A neurophysiological study

Food package labels can be used to influence consumers’ evaluation and purchasing behaviour, fostering sustainable consumption. Therefore, it is important to understand consumers’ emotional reaction to food package labels that convey sustainable information. The aim of the present research is to get a better understanding of the relation between consumers’ attitudes and emotional reactions often used to measure the effectiveness of a communication. Particularly, we focused on recyclability, assessing participants’ prior explicit and implicit attitudes towards recyclability and their emotional reaction to food packages featuring logos of (non-)recyclability. The emotional reaction was measured both at an explicit and at an implicit level, using direct (self-reported) and indirect (eye movement, facial expressions and pupil dilation) techniques respectively. Results showed that explicit attitudes predicted self-reported emotions, while implicit attitudes predicted the spontaneous emotional reactions, highlighting the importance to assess both explicit and implicit attitudes. Moreover, results showed that the relation between the time that people looked at the logo and the spontaneous emotional reaction was contingent upon the participant’s implicit attitudes. Finally, a follow-up analysis revealed that people with positive implicit attitudes towards recyclability were faster in detecting the recyclable logo and spent more time on processing the logo which on its turn resulted in better emotional reactions. Thus, the results suggest that implicit attitudes influence both visual attention and emotional reactions. Overall, the research contributes to a better understanding of the relation between prior attitudes and emotional reactions to food packaging, and supports the use of an approach that comprises both direct and indirect measures of attitudes and emotions.     

Implicit and explicit evaluations of foods: The natural and transformed dimension

In Western societies, choosing what to eat can be a demanding task due to the excessive availability of food. To make our feeding decisions more complex, our explicit and implicit evaluations of foods may differ as they are multi-attribute stimuli. Previous research has focused on investigating implicit and explicit evaluations towards high and low energy dense foods, the main finding being that participants’ hunger level and dietary habits (restrained eating) modulate such evaluations. In the present study, we investigated whether normal-weight healthy individuals assigned different values to natural and transformed foods depending on implicit (assessed with the Implicit Association Test) or explicit measures (assessed with explicit ratings), and whether participants’ hunger level or dietary habits modulated the responses at both levels. Our results showed that while for natural foods implicit and explicit measures (healthiness) seemed to converge, dietary habits or hunger level did not affect such evaluations. For transformed foods, a dissociation between implicit and explicit measures (healthiness) seemed to emerge, along with a strong modulation of dietary habits and hunger level on the evaluations of such foods. Thus, these findings reveal how the type of food can modulate evaluations at both the implicit and explicit level and highlight a critical role of long-term health consequences and eating patterns in food evaluations.     

In the eye of the beholder: Expected and actual liking for apples with visual imperfections

Food appearance is an important determinant for expected and actual liking, but some food is not even available for purchase due to visual imperfections. In two studies conducted with 130 participants in Sweden, we measured consumers’ expected and actual liking for different apples with three types of visual imperfection (color, shape and damage). We investigated the effects of apples’ visual characteristics on expected liking and whether or not this relationship is mediated by emotions and attitudes. Secondly, we investigated how actual liking differed between the groups of apples, and how it differed from expected liking. Results indicated that attitudes are the strongest mediator between visual characteristics of apples and expected liking. Moreover, participants indicated higher expected liking for color and shape imperfections relative to damaged apples. Results from the second study indicated a significant difference between expected and actual liking, and less variability in actual liking between the apple groups relative to the variability in expected liking.It can be concluded that the visual characteristics of apples influence both expected and actual liking, the practical implication for retailers being a need to carefully distinguish between the different types of visual sub-optimality and to keep the products that have a higher chance to be chosen (sub-optimal in shape and colour). Thus, these results generate a clearer understanding of visual sub-optimality, and can be incorporated in strategies for reducing food waste in stores.     

性别视角下的文胸选购情况调查分析

男性和女性在文胸的选购和设计上所要传达的观点是不同的。通过问卷调查的方法,选取500名不同年龄段的男性和女性,对文胸的选购和设计上所描述的观点进行了调查分析,统计结果发现：男性和女性在文胸的装饰性、功能性、服用性,以及文胸的了解渠道、购买场所等方面所持观点有所不同,对文胸以及文胸品牌的了解等方面也有很大差异。     

Strength and conflicting valence in the measurement of food attitudes and preferences

There is a trend in current attitude research to move away from a simple uni-dimensional view of attitude, towards examining a more multivariate concept of attitude. An extensive array of attitudinal properties or dimensions has been provided, defined and categorised as ‘attitude strength’. Attitude strength has only recently been adapted as a conceptual framework for research in marketing and consumer studies. Our objective in this paper is to introduce some of the attitude strength concepts and literature in order to improve the measure and understanding of research dealing with measurement of food preferences, perceived food quality and satisfaction with food products, food suppliers, etc. The paper takes a particular focus upon problems in comprehending the middlemost choice or neutrality when measuring attitude items along a traditional bipolar semantic differential or a bipolar hedonic preference scale. Through several propositions, we have outlined how future research should note that both attitude ambivalence (mixed feelings) and non-attitude (lack of confidence in evaluation) could be threats to comprehending the middlemost response alternative on a questionnaire as neutral when measuring food attitudes or preferences in the traditional way. Our approach should also deal with some of the shortcomings of analysing attitude–behaviour consistency when modelling food consumption behaviour.     

Gender differences in the influence of personality traits on spicy food liking and intake

It has been proposed, and only minimally explored, that personality factors may play a role in determining an individual’s sensitivity to and preference for capsaicin containing foods. We explored these relationships further here. Participants rated a number of foods and sensations on a generalized liking scale in a laboratory setting; after leaving the laboratory, they filled out an online personality survey, which included Arnett’s Inventory of Sensation Seeking (AISS) and the Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire (SPSRQ). Recently, we reported strong and moderate correlations between the liking of a spicy meal and the personality constructs of Sensation Seeking (AISS) and Sensitivity to Reward (SPSRQ), respectively. Here, we use moderation models to explore the relationships between personality traits, perceived intensity of the burn of capsaicin, and the liking and consumption of spicy foods. Limited evidence of moderation was observed; however differential effects of the personality traits were seen in men versus women. In men, Sensitivity to Reward associated more strongly with liking and consumption of spicy foods, while in women, Sensation Seeking associated more strongly with liking and intake of spicy foods. These differences suggest that in men and women, there may be divergent mechanisms leading to the intake of spicy foods; specifically, men may respond more to extrinsic factors, while women may respond more to intrinsic factors.