How descriptive food names bias sensory perceptions in restaurants

Effect of packaging with versus without candy-oriented marketing themes on the appeal and sensory attributes of flavoured e-cigarettes

SIGNIFICANCE

E-cigarettes with candy-themed marketing are implicated in decisions to first try e-cigarettes but have unknown effects on the experience of vaping. We compared adults' perceived appeal and sensory attributes after self-administering flavoured e-cigarettes in experimentally manipulated packaging with candy-themed versus standard marketing. We also assessed effect modification by salt vs free-base nicotine formulation.

METHODS

Adults who currently used e-cigarettes and/or cigarettes (N=72; age M(SD)=31.4 (12.8) years) completed single-puff self-administrations from eight individually-packaged pods containing fruit or dessert-flavoured e-liquid via staff-guided video sessions. For each e-liquid flavour, we custom-manufactured packaging with standard (eg, 'mango'; mango fruit image) and candy (eg, 'mango gummy bear'; gummy bear image) marketing versions, which we varied within-subject (four pods candy; four pods standard). After participants opened the package and vaped the pod inside, they rated its sensory attributes and appeal (0-100 scale). Participants were randomised between subjects to salt or free-base ~2.3% nicotine in all pods.

RESULTS

Marketing theme had no significant main effects on outcomes. Marketing theme × nicotine formulation interactions were significant; candy-themed (vs standard) packaging elevated composite appeal (Bdifference [estimated mean difference between marketing themes]=7.7), liking (Bdifference=8.4), and sweetness (Bdifference=5.7) ratings in free-base but not salt nicotine formulations. Marketing theme did not affect smoothness, harshness and bitterness ratings regardless of nicotine formulation.

CONCLUSION

Candy-themed marketing may heighten the appeal and sweet sensory experience of vaping flavoured free-base nicotine e-cigarettes. While marketing restrictions are predominantly intended to prevent e-cigarette initiation, candy-themed marketing restrictions could also prevent persistent use by lowering the appeal of flavoured free-base nicotine e-cigarettes.

The Influence of Food Names with Different Levels of Concreteness on Evaluations of Food Deliciousness and Healthiness

Recently, many restaurateurs in the food and beverage industry started using vague and abstract names to label their dishes. However, the influence of the concreteness of food names on consumers' evaluations of food remains unclear. Therefore, the present study investigated people's perceptions of food names with different levels of concreteness and their evaluations of food deliciousness and healthiness through two experiments. Experiment 1 investigated the likelihood of names with different levels of concreteness being perceived as foods or dishes through subjective guessing tasks. In line with the hypothesis of mental imagery consistency, the results revealed that individuals were more inclined to perceive high-concreteness names as actual food or dishes than low-concrete names. Experiment 2 further explored the impact of food names with different levels of concreteness on consumers' perceptions and evaluations of food in terms of the direct sensory (deliciousness) and indirect inference (healthiness) dimension. The results showed that in terms of deliciousness, consistent with the feelings-as-information theory, high-concreteness food names were rated significantly higher than low-concreteness ones. In terms of healthiness, consistent with the incongruence theory, low-concreteness food names were rated significantly higher than high-concreteness ones. These results indicated that high-concreteness names were more likely to be perceived as foods or dishes. Moreover, they also had advantages in the direct sensory dimension (deliciousness) but were perceived as less healthy in the indirect inference dimension (healthiness). The present findings provide new evidence for studies related to food naming and the evaluation of deliciousness and healthiness and offer suggestions and strategies for the food and beverage industry in naming foods and dishes.

Nudging towards sustainable dining: Exploring menu nudges to promote vegetarian meal choices in restaurants

Food choice behavior plays a large role in achieving sustainability goals. Meat in particular has a negative environmental impact as compared with plant-based food - and is more frequently chosen in restaurant contexts. To increase plant-based meal choices in restaurants, we tested three nudges for menus that are likely to be implemented by restaurant owners: a hedonic label (e.g., artisanal vegetable burger), a chef's recommendation (specifying the vegetarian option as the chef's favorite), and a salience nudge (a box around the vegetarian option). In an online experiment, we showed participants (n = 513) in four conditions (no nudge, hedonic label, chef's recommendation, and salience nudge) five menus with four meal options each, one of which was vegetarian. We asked participants to choose a meal and subsequently to rate these meals on how tasty and indulgent they were (taste and indulgence attributions). We then revealed which nudge was used to the participants and asked how participants received it. Results show that the hedonic label and chef's recommendation nudge (but not the salience nudge) both increase vegetarian meal choices. The hedonic label increased participants' attributions of indulgence of the meal, but not of tastiness. This finding fits with restaurants' gastronomic, pleasure-seeking context and shapes future directions of labeling interventions, namely that indulgence attributions can be increased in vegetarian foods. Furthermore, the nudges were generally well accepted and participants' intention to return to the (virtual) restaurant was high. Finally, customers expected the hedonic label nudge to be more effective in promoting vegetarian food choices than the other two nudges, partially corresponding with our findings of actual effectiveness.

The Power Is in the Word-Do Laypeople Interpret Descriptors of Dog Emotional States Correctly?

A basic understanding of dog behaviour and emotion is relevant not only for professionals, such as veterinary personnel or dog trainers, but also for dog owners and for people with little contact with dogs. Information about dog behaviour and emotions is mostly conveyed verbally. This study explores whether definitions of dog behaviour and emotion are understood in such a way that they can be allocated to a descriptor (i.e., a label such as "fearful"), even by people with low background knowledge. If people can match descriptors to definitions, this suggests that the definitions are distinct enough and elicit mental representations of behaviour that can fit the label. Good agreement on the definitions is a prerequisite for the validity of the descriptors used; however, no study to date has tested this. A sample of 236 adults was asked to match descriptors of Qualitative Behaviour Assessment (QBA) for veterinary and shelter situations to their correct definitions, e.g., the descriptor "fearful" to its definition "dog may try to flee, hide or freeze; ears back". Matching was substantially above chance; nonetheless, the mean proportion of correct responses was only 50% (SD ± 16.6%) for the veterinary QBA set and 33% (SD ± 14.3%) for the shelter QBA set. Performance in the matching task was positively correlated with measures of experience with dogs. Taken together, the results suggest that descriptor-definition pairs used to describe dog behaviour need to be clearly defined to avoid misinterpretations when teaching laypeople how to interpret canine behaviour.

Exploring how product descriptors and packaging colors impact consumers' perceptions of plant-based meat alternative products

While consumers have been increasingly trying to reduce their meat consumption due to rising concerns about its impact on their health and the environment, many still find animal-based foods more attractive than plant-based foods, thus hindering their adoption. Could marketing cues such as product descriptors and packaging colors help make these products more attractive to consumers? Across two studies, we tested the effects of product descriptors and packaging colors on meat eating consumers' perceptions of, and behavioral intentions toward, plant-based meat alternative products. Study 1 revealed that a "plant-based" (vs. "meat alternative") descriptor positively impacted perceptions of healthiness and eco-friendliness, as well as trial likelihood, and negatively impacted predicted quantity consumed. Study 2 provided some evidence for the moderating role of packaging color, and more specifically for the (mis)matching effects of product descriptor and packaging color on product perceptions and behavioral intentions. Results revealed that, when using a "meat alternative" descriptor, mismatching (vs. matching) it with a green (vs. red) packaging color negatively impacted perceptions of eco-friendliness and trial likelihood. Conversely, when using a "plant-based" descriptor, matching (vs. mismatching) it with a green (vs. red) packaging color negatively impacted predicted satiety. Overall, our research suggests that marketing cues can, to some extent, impact consumers' perceptions of plant-based meat alternative products and related behavioral intentions, and offers many avenues for future research.

Taste in Motion: The Effect of Projection Mapping of a Boiling Effect on Food Expectation, Food Perception, and Purchasing Behavior

The appearance of food affects its taste. Many studies have examined how to improve the taste of foods by manipulating their appearance. Most of those studies have focused on static appearances, such as color and texture; however, the impact of the dynamic appearance has not been explored. In this study, the perceptions (sweetness, sourness, saltiness, spiciness, temperature, deliciousness) and value judgments (the price of food, appetite) perceived from food before and after tasting with a projection-based dynamic boiling texture were investigated. The results revealed that the dynamic texture influences expectations for saltiness, spiciness, temperature, deliciousness, price, and appetite before eating the meal and perceived saltiness, spiciness, and appetite when eating. In addition, its influence on the consumers’ behavior was also investigated through an empirical user study in a restaurant. The results indicated that the consumers had a greater tendency to order the meal when they saw it with the projection-based boiling effect. From these, this study demonstrates the effect of projection mapping of a boiling effect on food expectation, perception and consumer behavior.

Mechanism of Cross-modal Information Influencing Taste

Studies on the integration of cross-modal information with taste perception has been mostly limited to uni-modal level. The cross-modal sensory interaction and the neural network of information processing and its control were not fully explored and the mechanisms remain poorly understood. This mini review investigated the impact of uni-modal and multi-modal information on the taste perception, from the perspective of cognitive status, such as emotion, expectation and attention, and discussed the hypothesis that the cognitive status is the key step for visual sense to exert influence on taste. This work may help researchers better understand the mechanism of cross-modal information processing and further develop neutrally-based artificial intelligent (AI) system.

When a Combination of Nudges Decreases Sustainable Food Choices Out-Of-Home-The Example of Food Decoys and Descriptive Name Labels

This paper reports results from three consecutive studies focusing on the comparison of the effectiveness of different nudges and their combinations to increase sustainable food choices out of the home. The nudges compared are the use of descriptive name labels (DNLs) for the most sustainable dish of a choice set (menu) and the decoy effect (DE), created by adding a less attractive decoy dish to a more attractive target dish with the goal of increasing the choice frequency of the target dish. In the literature, both nudges have been found to influence consumers’ choices. In the first study, six category names of sustainability indicators were deduced from a focus group. These were tested with 100 students to identify the most attractive DNLs. Study II, a randomized choice study (n = 420), tested the DE, the DNLs and a combination of the DNLs and the DE used on four different dishes in a university canteen. In study III, 820 guests of a business canteen voted during four weeks for the special meals of the following week (identical to the four choice sets displayed in study II). Results indicate that the combination of DNLs and the DE is not recommended for fostering sustainable food choices. Pure DNLs were more efficient in increasing the choice frequency of the more sustainable meal, whereas the decoy effect resulted in decreased choice frequencies. Regional and sustainable DNLs were favoured by consumers.

Using Sensory Science to Evaluate Consumer Acceptance of Recipes in a Nutrition Education Intervention for Limited Resource Populations

OBJECTIVE

This study evaluated consumer acceptance of recipes in a nutrition education intervention and assessed participants' intentions to change dietary behaviors.

DESIGN

Study participants tasted and evaluated 16 recipes in the University of Georgia Food Talk curriculum using the 9-point hedonic scale and indicated their likelihood of engaging in behaviors to improve diet quality on a similar, ordinal scale.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

Convenience samples of 89 to 122 adult participants in the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program in Georgia evaluated each recipe.

INTERVENTION

Eight interactive nutrition education sessions in which study participants sampled and evaluated 2 recipes per session.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Mean scores for overall liking of each recipe and likelihood of engaging in promoted behaviors to improve diet quality were outcomes of interest.

ANALYSIS

Descriptive statistics were generated. Relationships between overall liking of recipes and intention to engage in promoted behaviors were assessed with Spearman correlation coefficients.

RESULTS

Results showed that 13 of the 16 recipes in the curriculum met criteria for acceptable sensory quality. Overall liking was significantly correlated with participants' intentions to engage in behaviors to improve diet quality. Notable age- and sex-related differences were identified.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

Evaluations of consumer acceptance may be useful in interventions designed to improve diet quality through the introduction of new recipes as improving consumer acceptance of recipes may improve program outcomes.

Improving hospital food menu quality: an experimental approach

PURPOSE

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the negative impressions consumers hold toward institutional food can be remedied by subtle changes in menu descriptions. While an expectancy-disconfirmation explanation would suggest this, a negativity bias explanation would suggest otherwise.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH

The authors test the research question using an experimental 2 × 2 full factorial design, with data collected from 100 university students.

FINDINGS

The results show that when hospital menus are made somewhat fancier in their description, consumers evaluate the food as more attractive and menu variation to be greater. This implies that the judgments are more likely to be based on an expectancy-disconfirmation process that on being subject to negativity bias.

RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS

The authors study perceived attractiveness and menu variation, but future research should include taste perceptions and consumption volume.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

Institution managers could improve consumer perceptions of how attractive the food being served is, and the perceived variation in their menus, by subtly changing the course descriptions to become fancier. However, as such, a strategy based on an expectancy-disconfirmation process, institution managers should beware not to sweeten the pill too much, i.e., making promises they cannot keep may backfire if one makes the menus too fancy compared to what is delivered.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE

The authors extend current knowledge on menu label effects by addressing them for food suppliers, which are inherently associated with low food quality. The authors also show that when managers apply such strategies, the effect is due to a disconfirmation process rather than a negativity bias.

European consumers' readiness to adopt insects as food. A review

Edible insects seem one of the more probable responses to the increased quantity of food proteins needed in future prospective related to the increase of human population, mainly in developing countries. Introduction of entomophagy in developed countries, especially in Europe and North America, could help this trend and drive the world food economy to reach that goal. Few articles were published on acceptability of edible insect in European countries, with a large variability of methodologies used. Furthermore, both structure and unstructured (or semi-structured) techniques were analysed and compared. Through this review article, we analysed the different methodologies conducted on European consumers and categorised the studies in relation to the type of analysis chosen, data collection and results obtained. Limitation of the research studies and future recommendations were explored leading to better investigate consumers' acceptance.

Evaluating the palatability of fermented foods

The present review deal with the novel studies which present possibility of generating a novel sensory evaluation instrument for describing comprehensive food palatability. These studies suggest the palatability can be dissected into its componential subdomains and the subdomains in turn reconstitute comprehensive palatability with evaluation of the quantitative contribution of each subdomain. The studies suggest the novel instrument is useful for comprehensive evaluation of palatability of multifarious fermented foods.

Orders Of Healthier Children's Items Remain High More Than Two Years After Menu Changes At A Regional Restaurant Chain

In a previous study we showed that customers ordered healthier food following the April 2012 implementation of a healthier children's menu at Silver Diner, a regional restaurant chain. In this study we used newly available data to assess orders of children's menu items both one and two years after our last assessment. Previous assessments took place in September 2011-March 2012 and in September 2012-March 2013, before and after implementation of the new menu, respectively. Orders were abstracted from the restaurant's central database. We found that the overarching changes from the previous study were sustained during the two follow-up periods, with some small fluctuations (for example, the prevalence of healthy side dish orders changed from 38 percent of children's meals ordered to 74 percent, then 76 percent, and then 75 percent in the successive study periods). Ordering patterns at follow-up remained healthier than before the menu change and in some cases continued to improve. Similar interventions have the potential to promote sustainable healthier ordering patterns and inform policy.

Soy and Gut Microbiota: Interaction and Implication for Human Health

Soy (Glycine max) is a major commodity in the United States, and soy foods are gaining popularity due to their reported health-promoting effects. In the past two decades, soy and soy bioactive components have been studied for their health-promoting/disease-preventing activities and potential mechanisms of action. Recent studies have identified gut microbiota as an important component in the human body ecosystem and possibly a critical modulator of human health. Soy foods' interaction with the gut microbiota may critically influence many aspects of human development, physiology, immunity, and nutrition at different stages of life. This review summarizes current knowledge on the effects of soy foods and soy components on gut microbiota population and composition. It was found, although results vary in different studies, in general, both animal and human studies have shown that consumption of soy foods can increase the levels of bifidobacteria and lactobacilli and alter the ratio between Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. These changes in microbiota are consistent with reported reductions in pathogenic bacteria populations in the gut, thereby lowering the risk of diseases and leading to beneficial effects on human health.

Portion size: what we know and what we need to know

There is increasing evidence that the portion sizes of many foods have increased and in a laboratory at least this increases the amount eaten. The conclusions are, however, limited by the complexity of the phenomenon. There is a need to consider meals freely chosen over a prolonged period when a range of foods of different energy densities are available. A range of factors will influence the size of the portion size chosen: amongst others packaging, labeling, advertising, and the unit size rather than portion size of the food item. The way portion size interacts with the multitude of factors that determine food intake needs to be established. In particular, the role of portion size on energy intake should be examined as many confounding variables exist and we must be clear that it is portion size that is the major problem. If the approach is to make a practical contribution, then methods of changing portion sizes will need to be developed. This may prove to be a problem in a free market, as it is to be expected that customers will resist the introduction of smaller portion sizes, given that value for money is an important motivator.

Moderating roles of customer characteristics on the link between service factors and satisfaction in a buffet restaurant

Purpose

– In service sector, measuring quality of services is generally acknowledged to be difficult as it involves many psychological features. Hence, identifying the determinants of service quality and linkages with customer satisfaction is a challenging research topic. In this study, the authors take up a research study to address this challenge. The purpose of this paper is to examine the importance of factors influencing customer satisfaction in the context of a Chinese buffet restaurant in the UK.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors use a questionnaire based on the SERVQUAL instrument for the purpose. Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, the authors have found that service quality could be grouped into four main factors – service, food, ambience and price.

Findings

– Using multiple-regression analysis, the authors have found that food is the most significant factor influencing customer satisfaction, followed by price, ambience and service, respectively. Using a multi-group analysis, the authors have found interesting moderating roles of age, gender and annual income on the influence of the four factors on satisfaction: ambience is considered significant by male customers while it is not significant for female customers; the influence of price on satisfaction is much higher for female customers than for male customers; food and service factors are important for younger customers while price is important for older customers; price is important for customers with lower levels of income but not important for high-income customers.

Practical implications

– These results are useful to restaurant managers in allocating appropriate levels of resources to different factors based on their contributions to customer satisfaction in order to maximize customer satisfaction efficiently and effectively.

Originality/value

– Analysis and findings of this research are based on the customers’ survey data of a Chinese buffet restaurant in the UK. The authors have found an interesting ranking of the importance of service factors: food followed by price, ambience and service. The results on the moderating role of customer characteristics provide newer insights in the literature on service quality. The research findings can help the hotel management to improve their service levels to attain maximum customer satisfaction.

Tasteful Brands: Products of Brands Perceived to be Warm and Competent Taste Subjectively Better

Using survey and experimental data, the present research examines the effect of brand perception on experienced taste. The content of brand perception can be organized along the two social perception dimensions of warmth and competence. We use these two dimensions to systematically investigate the influence of brand perception on experienced taste and consumer behavior toward food products. The brand’s perceived warmth and competence independently influenced taste, both when it was measured as a belief and as an embodied experience following consumption. Taste mediated the link between brand’s warmth and competence perceptions and three consumer behavioral tendencies crucial for the marketing success of brands: buying intentions, brand loyalty, and support for the brand.

Savouring morality. Moral satisfaction renders food of ethical origin subjectively tastier

Past research has shown that the experience of taste can be influenced by a range of external cues, especially when they concern food's quality. The present research examined whether food's ethicality - a cue typically unrelated to quality - can also influence taste. We hypothesised that moral satisfaction with the consumption of ethical food would positively influence taste expectations, which in turn will enhance the actual taste experience. This enhanced taste experience was further hypothesised to act as a possible reward mechanism reinforcing the purchase of ethical food. The resulting ethical food → moral satisfaction  → enhanced taste expectations and experience → stronger intentions to buy/willingness to pay model was validated across four studies: one large scale international survey (Study 1) and three experimental studies involving actual food consumption of different type of ethical origin - organic (Study 2), fair trade (Study 3a) and locally produced (Study 3b). Furthermore, endorsement of values relevant to the food's ethical origin moderated the effect of food's origin on moral satisfaction, suggesting that the model is primarily supported for people who endorse these values.