Food-related contextual factors substantially modify the disgust response

Faeces-shaped chocolate fudge has been shown to evoke a significant disgust reaction. However, methodological issues inherent in the original study have impeded our understanding of this striking phenomenon. In the present experiment, photographs of objects from one of four categories—edible (e.g., chocolate), inedible (e.g., jumper), disgusting (e.g., faeces) and mixed (e.g., chocolate shaped as faeces)—were presented to 105 participants. Ratings were collected of (1) general disgust elicited by the objects and (2) the level of disgust elicited by considering the objects as potential food items. Disgust ratings across the four categories were higher on the food scale than on the general scale. ‘Inedible’ items were rated much more highly than the ‘mixed items’, confirming that an alternative explanation for the disgust reaction to faeces-shaped chocolate can be framed in terms of the unexpectedness of the item as a potential foodstuff, which leads to a neophobic response.     

Mindfulness and willingness to try insects as food: The role of disgust

Mindfulness, commonly associated with Buddhism, refers to the state of being aware, taking note of what is going on within oneself and outside of the world. In the current research, we examine the possible impact of mindfulness on willingness to try insect foods. We present the results of three studies—one correlational and two experimental—illustrating that mindfulness increases disgust and lowers willingness to try eating insects. On the one hand, this counters existing literature that mindfulness reduces emotional reactivity. On the other hand, it is in-line with mindfulness making one more aware and accepting of present and incoming information, which would conceivably include context-relevant emotions such as disgust in the case of eating insects that Western cultures see as disgusting. Our findings support the latter possibility. We situate our work within the literature on the various impacts of mindfulness on food choice. We also discuss implications for food sustainability practitioners.     

We will eat disgusting foods together – Evidence of the normative basis of Western entomophagy-disgust from an insect tasting

Insects are a highly sustainable and nutritious source of protein, and, thus, incorporating insects in to Western food culture is one way to address major global challenges like global warming and deforestation. Consumer studies show, however, that Westerners’ willingness to eat insect-containing food is low. One formidable barrier is the perception that insects are disgusting, and it is generally believed that this insect-disgust is driven by a fear of contamination and disease. Another barrier is the lack of social norms related to entomophagy in the West. In the present study, we tested effects of fear of contamination and perceived social eating norm with a survey and a tasting session administered to a Danish college sample (N = 189). Correlation analyses and multivariate regression analyses revealed that selfreported trait-level Pathogen Disgust and Perceived Infectability did not consistently predict insect eating disgust, willingness to eat insects, or actual insect tasting behavior in the tasting session. In contrast, perceived insect eating norm emerged as a significant predictor of insect tasting behavior. These findings suggest that perceived social norms play a substantial role in Westerners’ (un)willingness to eat insects. The result gives reason for optimism for aspirations of introducing insects in Western food diet and point to avenues for harnessing social norms in marketing efforts.     

Attitudes and acceptance of young people toward the consumption of insects and cultured meat in Germany

The present study examined the willingness of children and adolescents (N = 718, M_Age = 13.67, SD = 2.31; female = 57.5%) from Germany to consume insects and cultured meat. One focus of the study was the comparison of attitudes toward foods made from insects and cultured meat in general and in a specific form (a burger). Another focus was analyzing the influence of selected nutritional-psychological factors on the willingness of children and adolescents to consume these products. In addition to sociodemographic factors (age, sex), meat consumption, familiarity, attitudes, food neophobia, and food disgust were included as variables. The study participants showed a significantly higher willingness to consume the cultured meat burger than the insect burger, although no difference could be shown in their attitudes toward the alternatives as food (i.e., irrespective of their form of preparation). Hierarchical multiple regression revealed that the attitude toward the alternative protein product in burger form, specifically, was the strongest predictor for the willingness to consume both burger alternatives. This illustrates that the attitudes of children and adolescents toward a particular product are especially important. The negative influence of food neophobia on the willingness to consume the meat alternatives, which had previously been reported in other studies, was confirmed in this study. In the regression model with the sociodemographic variables, food disgust showed a negative influence on the willingness to consume the two meat alternatives; however, this negative influence was not detected after including the nutritional-psychological variables in the model. Proposals for the use of the results of this study in designing marketing strategies and educational interventions in schools are presented.     

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.     

Acceptance of insects as food in Germany: Is it about sensation seeking,sustainability consciousness,or food disgust?

This study examines the acceptance of insect-based foods by consumers in Germany. The nationwide online survey (N = 516) focused on which factors have the greatest influence on the willingness to consume an insect burger and buffalo worms. In addition to sociodemographic factors, meat consumption and the “classical” variables in the field of entomophagy (familiarity, previous insect consumption, food technology neophobia and food neophobia), the study focuses in particular on the previously unconsidered variables sensation seeking, sustainability consciousness and food disgust. A total of 41.9% of the participants were willing to consume an insect burger. In contrast, only 15.9% of the participants were willing to consume the buffalo worms – a principal ingredient of the insect burger. Hierarchical multiple regressions showed that food disgust was the most important predictor for the acceptance of edible insects, followed by previous insect consumption, food neophobia, gender, sensation seeking and food technology neophobia. The high influence of food disgust shows that not only the explicit disgust for insects is decisive for the consumer readiness of insect-based products, but also the domain specific disgust for food. Despite the strong sustainability awareness of our participants, and contrary to our expectations, sustainability consciousness did not prove to be a significant predictor for the willingness to consume insects. Implications for marketing strategies and educational interventions will be discussed.     

Eating in the dark: A dissociation between perceived and actual food consumption

Objective: According to folk intuition “Eye appeal is half the meal,” raising the question how the absence of vision or ‘visual flavor’ affects food perception, willingness to buy, and food intake. Method: In the present experiment, ninety students were assigned to either a blindfolded or a non-blindfolded condition and completed a bogus ice cream taste test. Taste perceptions and purchase willingness were assessed during tasting, and actual and perceived intake, afterward. Results: Blindfolded participants rated the ice cream lower on hedonic but higher on ambiguity taste attributes. Although eating without vision led to a lower purchase willingness and a 9% decrease in the actual intake, blindfolded participants overestimated their intake by 88% while non-blindfolded overestimated their intake only by 35%. Conclusions: Thus, depriving participants of visual input dissociated perceived intake from actual intake. Shifting attention toward interoceptive cues of eating may provide unobtrusive and naturalistic means to change eating experiences.     

The comparability of consumers’ behavior in virtual reality and real life: A validation study of virtual reality based on a ranking task

The comparability or similarity of consumers’ behavior in virtual reality (VR) and in real life (RL) is indispensable to successfully take advantage of VR technology in consumer behavior (CB) research. This study investigated the comparability of participants’ behavior in a virtual environment and in RL to validate VR for data acquisition in CB research. Participants (N = 98) were randomly assigned to a RL condition or a VR condition in which the settings were chosen to mimic a RL environment as closely as possible. In both conditions, participants ranked 20 types of commercial breakfast cereal by their perceived healthiness from healthy to unhealthy. We observed that the perceived healthiness of the 20 cereals in the VR and RL conditions were highly correlated (r_s = 0.91, p < .001, N = 20). The information-seeking behavior was not different between the two conditions, t (96) = −1.11, p = .27. Furthermore, the attributes employed by the participants to evaluate the healthiness of the cereals did not vary between the two conditions. The presence level of the participants in the virtual environment was also examined. The results illustrate that the participants’ behavior in the virtual environment and in the real world were comparable, which provides robust evidence for the validity of VR as a beneficial and promising tool for data acquisition in CB research.     

True colours: Advantages and challenges of virtual reality in a sensory science experiment on the influence of colour on flavour identification

The use of virtual reality (VR) in sensory science studies can offer new possibilities for experimental design. For instance, VR allows for the modification of visual product properties without changing the product composition. In a set of two augmented virtuality studies, we investigated whether the results we obtained in real-life (RL) settings were comparable to the results we obtained in a VR environment. In Study 1, we transferred an existing sensory science experiment to a VR setting. We invited 100 participants to taste two juices and a piece of cake. In the VR environment, participants saw the product either in its original colour or in a modified, product-atypical colour. After the product tasting, we asked them to identify the most dominant flavour. Participants had more difficulties identifying the flavour when the product was shown in a modified colour than when it was shown in its original colour. In Study 2, we added an RL control condition to facilitate a direct comparison between the two conditions and to verify our findings from Study 1. A chi-square test for association revealed no significant differences between the RL and VR conditions. We conclude that sensory studies can be successfully transferred to VR and obtain a generally similar pattern of results.     

Encouraging sustainable insect-based diets: The role of disgust,social influence,and moral concern in insect consumption

Disgust, social influence, and moral concern seem to play a pivotal role in insect consumption. Research examining these factors, particularly in the UK, is currently lacking. As a result, two studies were conducted to examine the perceived barriers and benefits of insect consumption, and how disgust can be counteracted. First, a cross-sectional study (N = 600) showed that disgust and moral concerns were unique predictors of individual’s willingness to consume insect products. Second, we conducted an experiment (N = 519) to examine whether knowledge that someone else consumes an insect-based product impacts one’s own willingness to consume insects. In this study we replicated Hartmann, Ruby, Schmidt, and Siegrist (2018) methodology of giving information about an insect consumer but added details about the individuals’ occupation and what type of product they consumed, examining how these factors impacted individual’s willingness to consume insect-based products. We found that this information did not impact willingness to consume; however, it did influence feelings of disgust and perceived acceptability. This study also replicated the first study by demonstrating that disgust and moral concern are barriers to insect consumption. We hope the current findings trigger future research to examine how disgust can be counteracted, and to better understand the role of moral concern in insect consumption.     

The relationship between disgust sensitivity and BMI: Is the food disgusting or am I?

Core disgust is a negative emotion, comprised of disgust in response to food, animals, and from the body itself (and its products). Individual differences exist in the level to which people experience the emotion of core disgust. Sensitivity to disgust has been associated negatively with Body Mass Index (BMI) in overweight and obese people, and to eating disorders independently from BMI. This study investigates the relationship between disgust sensitivity and BMI by examining data from the Italian Taste Project (n = 2317). We hypothesized that the relationship between disgust sensitivity and BMI, after accounting for age and gender, may be mediated by other factors, such as 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) sensitivity or eating restraint, and that this relationship might differ in non-obese and obese individuals. Results showed that the relationship between sensitivity to disgust and food behaviors is complex and differs between obese and non-obese people. Two mediation models were considered. In the first case restrained eating acted as a mediator of disgust sensitivity in the prediction of BMI, while in the second one BMI acted only as a partial mediator of disgust sensitivity in the prediction of restrained eating. This suggests that heightened sensitivity to core disgust may be associated with a heightened sensitivity to self-disgust, motivating restrained eating behaviors when BMI is higher, but only in non-obese individuals.     

Effect of co-eating on unfamiliar food intake among Japanese young adults

The present study explored whether partner presence (pair vs. individual) affects unfamiliar food intake. In the experiment, participants were asked to taste pieces of 13 kinds of snacks, including three unfamiliar and ten neutral snacks, and were informed that they did not have to eat a snack if they did not want to. The total amounts and ratios of all kinds of snacks consumed for unfamiliar and neutral snacks were compared between participants in the pair condition and those in the individual condition. Results demonstrated that the ratio of participants who consumed all three kinds of unfamiliar snacks was higher in the pair condition than in the individual condition. Furthermore, the results of communication analyses showed that participants in the pair condition tried unfamiliar snacks even after the peer expressed a negative evaluation of a snack. These results suggest that social motivation such as risk-taking and conformity affect unfamiliar food intake in co-eating situations.     

When a portion becomes a norm: Exposure to a smaller vs. larger portion of food affects later food intake

BackgroundPortion sizes in the food environment may communicate information about what constitutes a ‘normal’ amount of food to eat. Here we examined whether mere visual exposure to a smaller vs. larger portion size of snack food affects perceptions of how much a ‘normal’ sized portion is and how much people choose to eat of that food in future.MethodsUnder the guise of a study on taste preference and personality, 104 female participants were randomly allocated to be exposed to either a smaller or larger portion size of snack food. Twenty-four hours later participants freely selected a portion of the snack food to consume and reported on their perception of what constituted a normal sized portion of the snack food.ResultsParticipants that were exposed to a smaller, as opposed to larger portion size subsequently believed that a normal portion of the snack food was smaller in size. Exposure to the smaller as opposed to the larger portion size also resulted in participants consuming less snack food the next day.ConclusionsEnvironmental exposure to smaller, as opposed to larger portion sizes of food may change perceptions of what constitutes a normal amount of food to eat and affect the amount of food people choose to eat in future.     

Influences of table setting and eating location on food acceptance and intake

This study aimed to determine whether there is an interaction between “small” (i.e., table setting) and “large” (i.e., eating location) scales of the eating environments in affecting food acceptance and consumption. An identical roast chicken was presented at three table-setting conditions: plastic tray (PT), home-style table (HT), and gourmet table (GT) settings both in sensory testing booths and realistic contexts (e.g., classroom for PT, home-style dining room for HT, and restaurant for GT). Participants favored the appearance of food served at a gourmet table setting located in a restaurant setting significantly more than in a sensory testing booth. The participants were more willing to eat the food served using a gourmet table setting in the restaurant setting than in the sensory testing booth, leading to a significant increase in their food consumption. In addition, participants consumed food more slowly and perceived themselves to be less hungry when they ate in realistic contexts rather than in sensory testing booths. In conclusion, our findings demonstrated that food acceptance and intake can vary according to whether the small (table setting) and large (eating location) scales of the eating environments are well-matched or not.     

It’s not queasy being green: The role of disgust in willingness-to-pay for more sustainable product alternatives

Scholars differ in the extent to which they regard the “yuck factor” as an important predictor of sustainable consumption decisions. In the present decision experiment we tested whether people’s disgust traits predicted relative willingness-to-pay (WTP) for sustainable product alternatives, including atypically-shaped fruit and vegetables; insect-based food products; and medicines/drinks with reclaimed ingredients from sewage. In a community sample of 510 participants (255 women), using path analyses we examined the extent to which effects of disgust traits on WTP were mediated by cognitive appraisals of perceived taste, health risk, naturalness, visual appeal, and nutritional/medicinal value. Further, we assessed whether these effects were moderated by the tendency to regulate disgust using reappraisal and suppression techniques. Across all product categories, when controlling for important covariates such as pro-environmental attitudes, we found a significant negative effect of trait disgust propensity on WTP. In total, a 1 SD increase in participants’ disgust propensity scores predicted between 6% and 11% decrease in WTP. Appraisals of perceived naturalness, taste, health risk, and visual appeal significantly mediated these effects, differing in importance across the product categories, and explaining approximately half of the total effect of disgust propensity on WTP. Little-to-no support was found for moderation of effects by trait reappraisal or suppression. Individual differences in disgust are likely to be a barrier for certain viable sustainable alternatives to prototypical products. Marketing interventions targeting consumer appraisals, including in particular the perceived naturalness and taste, of these kinds of products may be effective.     

Sweet temptation: Effects of exposure to chocolate-scented lotion on food intake

Food-scented products are widely available, yet it is unclear whether they influence eating behavior. Food-related cues can increase intake; therefore, it was anticipated that conscious exposure to food-scented products (e.g., body lotion) could also influence consumption. Female participants (n = 58) were randomly assigned to an exposure condition (labeled chocolate lotion, unlabeled chocolate lotion, or unscented lotion), and their subsequent intake of chocolate-chip cookies was measured. A significant effect of condition on intake emerged. Those who knew that they were evaluating a chocolate-scented lotion ate more than did those exposed to the same (unlabeled) lotion, suggesting that conscious exposure to chocolate-related products may increase food intake.     

Effects of the degree of processing of insect ingredients in snacks on expected emotional experiences and willingness to eat

This study explored willingness to eat and the negative and positive emotional expectations that people from a Western country may have toward the consumption of insect snacks. The snacks, which were presented as pictures in an online survey, differed in their degree of processing of the insect ingredient: tortilla chips made of cricket flour (“flour”), tortilla chips containing deep-fried cricket bits (“bits”), a snack consisting of tortilla chips and deep-fried crickets (“mix”), and deep-fried crickets (“crickets”). Swiss respondents (N = 428) made 39 emotional evaluations, rated willingness to eat and expected liking of the presented products. Each participant evaluated the same non-insect-containing snack (within-subjects design) and one of four insect-containing snacks (between-subjects design). Results showed that the insect snacks evoked various negative emotional expectations that went beyond expectations of disgust. Positive emotional expectations were less expected to occur. Furthermore, expectations related to disgust/uneasiness, inertia/dissatisfaction, and positive emotional evaluations were significant predictors of willingness to eat. The degree of processing of the insect ingredient partly influenced the ratings, with the “mix” product being assessed more negatively than the “flour” or “bits” products. The “cricket” product was rated more positive than expected.The research indicates that in the development and marketing of insect food, efforts should be undertaken not only to eliminate initial negative expectations of disgust and dissatisfaction but also to generate positive emotional expectations. We suggest the marketing of snacks containing processed insect ingredients will be more promising, and selling whole insects alone is more preferable to selling a mixed snack. Regardless of the degree of processing of the insect ingredient, the results suggest that marketing activities must contend with a large emotional barrier.     

Effect of virtual eating environment on consumers’ evaluations of healthy and unhealthy snacks

Immersive technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality have been recently explored in the field of food consumption studies from different perspectives. The present study utilized virtual reality technology in a within-subject experiment with three conditions to examine whether a varying virtual eating environment can alter consumers’ emotional responses (positive, negative, neutral) to the eating situation and whether the resulting emotional responses correlate with consumers’ wanting, liking, and hedonic evaluations of healthy and unhealthy snacks. In addition, the study analyzed whether a virtual eating environment that generates a positive emotional response can raise consumers’ rating of a healthy snack to the same level as an unhealthy snack consumed in a plain, unimmersed environment. The results showed a correlation between positive emotional responses and the pre-tasting evaluations of both snacks. In terms of hedonic evaluations, positive emotional responses correlated mainly with consumers’ evaluation of the unhealthy snack. When pre-tasting wanting and liking evaluations are compared between experimental conditions, the results indicate that a healthy snack is rated higher in a virtual reality environment that induces a more positive emotional response. The healthy snack was also rated at the same level as the unhealthy snack consumed in a plain environment. No differences between conditions were observed in consumers’ hedonic evaluations of the products. EEG and heart rate measurement results indicate that this might be because tasting a healthy snack generates more cognitive processing than an unhealthy snack. This might reduce the influence of the virtual eating environment on consumers’ evaluations. To conclude, virtual reality technologies might have the potential to support consumers’ eating experiences and healthy food choices by improving their evaluations of the products.     

A brief nudge or education intervention delivered online can increase willingness to order a beef-mushroom burger

Increasing the consumption of plant-forward meals, such as beef-mushroom burgers, is a promising avenue for improving environmental sustainability. In the present research, we explored the effectiveness of a brief nudge or education intervention designed to reduce willingness to order an all-beef burger in favor of a beef-mushroom burger. For the nudge intervention the beef-mushroom burger was set as the default menu item, whereas for the education intervention the link between beef consumption and climate change was explained. In the control condition neither were included. Participants (N = 562) completed measures of social dominance orientation (SDO), conservatism, cognitive rationalization of meat-eating, beef consumption, liking beef, and liking mushrooms, in a randomized order. Participants were then randomly assigned to the nudge (n = 189), education (n = 187), or control (n = 186) condition, after which they reported their willingness to order an all-beef (vs. beef-mushroom) burger. Results revealed that, after accounting for liking mushrooms, the nudge (vs. control) condition and the education (vs. control) condition both significantly decreased willingness to order the all-beef (vs. beef-mushroom) burger. SDO, conservatism, cognitive rationalization of meat-eating, beef consumption, or liking beef did not moderate the effectiveness of the interventions. In other words, nudge and education interventions increased willingness to order beef-mushroom burgers regardless of right-wing ideology or meat-eating attitudes or behaviors. Implications and recommendations are discussed.     

Insects as food: Exploring cultural exposure and individual experience as determinants of acceptance

Edible insects have attracted much Western interest in recent years due to their nutritional and environmental advantages. Consumers, however, remain aversive towards a class of items that is not traditionally considered to be food. While the focus is often on the Western disgust, looking at consumer perceptions in a culture that considers insects to be delicious could provide new insights into the psychological and cultural mechanisms that underpin these evaluations. This cross-cultural qualitative study explores how cultural exposure and individual experience contribute towards the contrasting evaluations of insects as food by those who do and do not eat them. Eight focus groups were conducted across two cultures—four in Thailand where insects are part of the local food culture, and four in the Netherlands where insects are generally not recognised as food. Within these cultures, two groups consisted of individuals who have experience with eating insects, and two groups consisted of individuals with little or no experience with insects as food. Cultural exposure created expectations of which species were more appropriate to eat and how they should be prepared, whereas individual experiences determined whether judgements were made based on memories of past eating experiences or based on the visual properties and item associations. This study provides insights into the acceptance and rejection factors of unfamiliar food items and identifies the factors to be considered when introducing novel food items that are not yet culturally acceptable as food.