The potential of using emoji instead of words when measuring emotions associated with food

Effect of packaging label color on consumer perception of Greek protected designation of origin table olives "Kalamata"

Kalamata table olives are a widely exported Greek protected designation of origin (PDO) product with distinct organoleptic profile. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of label color on the flavor perception of pasteurized and unpasteurized Kalamata PDO olives. Consumer perception was assessed in two studies. First, four packaged products with green, blue, red, and purple labeling were assessed by participants (n = 106) for preference using rating scales, and emotional profiles were obtained using a check-all-that-apply list of 33 emotions developed in language native to the participants (Greek). The green label resulted to more positive emotion profiling of olive products (i.e., "healthy," "pleased," and "satisfied" with mean scores correspondingly equal to 2.99, 2.95, and 2.87), and red labeled olives resulted to willingness to pay more. In the second study, unpasteurized and pasteurized olives in red and green labeled glass jars were sensorially assessed by participants (n = 124) using rating scales, showing that green labeled products are liked most (mean scores; 5.12 and 5.12), whereas red labeled was scored less (mean scores; 4.96 and 4.67), along emotion profiles with emojis. Principal component analysis of emotional reactions revealed grouping of samples based only on pasteurization/no pasteurization, without been affected by the color of the label, and did not relate to the liking scores. The results showed that sensory perception of olives is significantly affected by the color of packaging (p-value <0.05) due to emotional reactions and color of packaging can enhance the perception of olives' quality as improvement of the processing is limited by the PDO status.

Parent Experiences With Warning Labels After Policy Implementation in Uruguay

OBJECTIVE

To explore the perception and experiences of parents of children and adolescents during the first year of the mandatory implementation of nutritional warning labels in Uruguay.

DESIGN

Qualitative research based on semistructured interviews.

SETTING

Montevideo, Uruguay.

PARTICIPANTS

Twenty-eight parents of children and adolescents.

PHENOMENON OF INTEREST

Perception of and experiences with warning labels, a front-of-pack nutrition labeling scheme that has become increasingly popular in Latin America.

ANALYSIS

Content analysis of the transcripts based on a deductive-inductive approach.

RESULTS

Interview transcripts evidenced high awareness, acceptance, and understanding of warning labels among parents of children and adolescents. Most participants reported considering warnings for decision making and changing their purchase decisions because of their implementation, particularly when choosing foods for their children. They reported their children were aware of and understood warnings but did not tend to take them into account when choosing foods.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

Results from the present work contribute to the growing body of literature showing the effectiveness of warning labels. Lack of interest or perceived benefits and structural barriers emerged as key motives for not using the warnings when making purchasing decisions, suggesting the need to develop additional strategies to increase policy effectiveness.

Emoji for Food and Beverage Research: Pleasure, Arousal and Dominance Meanings and Appropriateness for Use

Emoji have been argued to have considerable potential for emotion research but are struggling with uptake in part because knowledge about their meaning is lacking. The present research included 24 emoji (14 facial, 10 non-facial) which were characterized using the PAD model (Pleasure-Arousal-Dominance) of human affect by 165 consumers in New Zealand and 861 consumers in the UK. The results from the two countries were remarkably similar and contributed further evidence that emoji are suitable for cross-cultural research. While significant differences between the emoji were established for each of the PAD dimensions, the mean scores differed most on the Pleasure dimension (positive to negative), then on the Arousal dimension (activated to deactivated), and lastly on the Dominance dimension (dominance to submissive). The research also directly measured the perceived appropriateness of the 24 emoji for use with foods and beverages. The emoji face savoring food, clapping hands and party popper were in the top-5 for the highest appropriateness in food and beverage context for both studies, as was a strong negative expression linked to rejection (Study 1: face vomiting; Study 2: nauseated face). On the other hand, zzz and oncoming fist were considered as the least appropriate to be used in a food and beverage context in both studies. Again, the results from the UK and NZ were in good agreement and identified similar groups of emoji as most and least suitable for food-related consumer research.