A preliminary study on the impact of contextual information regarding the origin of food on consumers’ judgments and skin conductance responses

Research advances in detection of food adulteration and application of MALDI-TOF MS: A review

Food adulteration and illegal supplementations have always been one of the major problems in the world. The threat of food adulteration to the health of consumers cannot be ignored. Food of questionable origin causes economic losses to consumers, but the potential health risks cannot be ignored. However, the traditional detection methods are time-consuming and complex. This review mainly discusses the types of adulteration and technologies used to detect adulteration. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is also emphasized in the detection of adulteration and authenticity of origin analysis of various types of food (milk, meat, edible oil, etc.), and the future application direction and feasibility of this technology are analyzed. On this basis, MALDI-TOF MS was compared with other detection methods, highlighting the advantages of this technology in the detection of food adulteration. The future development prospect and direction of this technology are also emphasized.

How much is a chef's touch worth? Affective, emotional and behavioural responses to food images: A multimodal study

BACKGROUND

Food aesthetics influences affective dimensions (valence and arousal) and subsequent emotional and behavioural responses in images presented in more traditional form, almost rustic in some cases, to the signature dishes of haute cuisine. However, the visual impact of images of haute cuisine dishes on consumers' affective and emotional responses compared to traditional dishes is still understudied.

METHODS

We recorded electrodermal activity, ocular movements and self-report affect of 35 volunteers while they performed a picture viewing paradigm using images of haute cuisine food, traditional food, and non-food. Additionally, the moderating role of age was examined.

RESULTS

Our results showed that subjects had higher feelings of pleasure and arousal toward images of food (haute cuisine and traditional dishes) compared to non-food images. However, no difference in self-report affect, physiological and behavioural responses was found between haute cuisine and traditional dishes. Interestingly, a moderating effect of age was revealed, reporting that younger participants had greater feelings of pleasure and shorter eye-to-screen distance towards traditional food than haute cuisine.

CONCLUSIONS

As a whole, our findings suggest that food aesthetics could at least partially affect consumers' affective and emotional responses. Interestingly, physiological responses to food pictures seemed to be relatively independent of approach/avoidance motivational states, supporting the assumption that traditional visual restaurant menus with attractive images might be insufficient for eliciting intense positive emotions. This study also contributes to advancing the understanding of the role that age plays in emotional impact when images of haute cuisine dishes are presented to consumers.

Factors Generating the Willingness of Romanian Consumers to Buy Raw Milk from Vending Machines

The use of automatic raw milk dispensers for products obtained from Romanian farms can represent an effective method of encouraging the development of short supply chains and promoting sustainable production and consumption systems. There are very few studies in the literature, especially in emerging economies, that analyze consumer perception regarding the use of raw milk dispensers; most of the research is focused on technical aspects regarding how such machines function and food safety, and less on consumers' perceptions towards them or consumer satisfaction, loyalty, or intention to use them. Therefore, the objective of this research was to investigate the willingness of Romanian consumers to buy raw milk from vending machines. In this regard, the authors drew a conceptual model to assess the factors that trigger willingness to buy raw milk from vending machines and then implemented a quantitative-based survey among Romanian consumers who buy raw milk from vending machines. The data were analyzed by modeling structural equations with SmartPLS. The results reveal that the generation of consumer willingness to buy raw milk from vending machines depends on how consumers perceive raw milk but also on the product safety, reusability of the milk bottle, and the provenance of the raw milk, as well as the nutritional qualities of the unprocessed raw milk. The paper extends previous studies based on the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) and deepens the understanding of consumers' perception towards raw milk dispensers. Furthermore, the results also highlight possible managerial strategies that aim to improve the understanding of consumers.