Social representations and culture in food studies

Cultural differences in wine conceptualization among consumers in France, Portugal and South Africa

Consumers' mental pictures of wine are multifaceted and are shaped by their sensory (taste, smell, visual, sensation) perceptions, in addition to emotional, cultural and extrinsic (brand, price, and awards) influences. This study explores whether consumers from three different wine cultures share mental representations of three wine concepts. Through an online survey, French, Portuguese, and South African wine consumers described their conceptualizations of Wine, Red wine and White wine aroma. Given these nations' rich winemaking traditions and diverse wine styles, differences in consumer perspectives were likely to emerge. The findings demonstrate that, regardless of cultural background, the broad concept of Wine aligns with the more specific Red and White wine conceptualizations, although the latter concepts diverge from each other. Notably, cultural contexts significantly influence participants' representations of Red Wine, with particularly marked contrasts between the South African and French respondents. This suggests that like experts, wine consumers have also built representations of wine through semantic memory. This cross-cultural analysis of consumer interpretations of wine concepts holds the potential for refining marketing strategies to overcome cultural barriers in wine purchasing behaviour.

Cultural sips: Exploring sociodemographic and dominance factors in French wine appraisal

This study investigates the intricate relationship between sociodemographic factors, social dominance orientation (SDO), and perceptions of wine in France. Emphasizing the symbolic role of wine in French culture, and employing a survey-based approach, the research explores how societal hierarchies and individual positioning within these structures influence the appraisal of rosé wine. The findings revealed that sociodemographic factors, particularly education level, significantly influence wine appraisal, while social dominance orientation serves as a mediating factor. This research contributes to the understanding of the cultural and social dynamics shaping wine consumption in France, highlighting the fact that wine appraisal is deeply embedded in societal structures.

Structural analysis of whey representation between rural and urban populations in western Mexico

Whey is a by-product derived from cheese making. Despite being rich in nutrients, it is little used, it even represents a problem form the environment in Mexico. In this sense, it is important to know the meanings that are associated with this term, especially when it is intended to develop new products from this by-product. The objective of this work was to analyze the representation of the term whey in rural and urban populations through the Central core Theory. Additionally, the relationship between gender-place of residence with the evoked word is explored. Therefore, three hundred and sixty people (from rural and urban areas) were interviewed face to face in two areas in the western region of Mexico. Word association test was carried out, using "whey" as stimulus; the associated words were ordered according to their importance; the polarity index of each associated word was evaluated. The most frequently mentioned words were analyzed based on their frequency of mention and average importance to identify the conceptual structure of the concept representation. The results show and influence of the place of residence on the conceptual structure. Rural participants tend to generate more words with negative connotations, while the central elements of urban consumers are mainly related to dairy products. When comparing consumers by gender, rural and urban women associate "whey" with aspects of both the production process and dairy products. In the case of men, those from the urban zone, relate to aspects related to nutrition, dairy products and nutrients. In contrast, men from the rural area relate whey mainly to negative aspects such as pollution. The study confirms that there is a link between the place of residence and the conformation of the conceptual structure, where the gender-region relationship influences the definition of the term "whey".

Exploring Adolescent girls' Food-Talk in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal: A Qualitative Study

This study aimed to analyze how adolescent girls residing in Kathmandu valley, Nepal, talk about food within the context of their everyday experiences. We conducted 10 in-depth and four focus group interviews. Qualitative thematic analysis based on the constructivist paradigm was used to organize the interviews. The Utilitarian domain contained health statements using biomedical language and lay theories on health. Hedonic talk emphasized the taste of food, but notions about enjoyment were limited. Collective talk constructed an ideal family. In agency talk, the interviewees described their active role in achieving a slim body. Participants were not concerned about food insecurity but about eating too much.

Food handlers' lack of knowledge, and misunderstanding of safe food temperatures: An analysis using the theory of social representations

Comprehension is the ability to understand and be familiar with situations and facts. A critical factor causing foodborne diseases is the inadequate temperature during food storage and handling; food handlers often fail to understand this. Therefore, in this study, we investigated how technical language and everyday knowledge operate in the comprehension of safe food temperatures among food handlers in food services. To achieve this, data collection was carried out in two stages. In the first stage, a survey was conducted to 206 food handlers from 14 food service working in the city of São Paulo. Through this survey, we gathered information to characterize the socio-demographic profile of the sample, details about participation in training, and knowledge of technical terms related to safe food temperatures. In the second stage, individuais interviews were conducted on the same day following the questionnaire administration in each food service. A total of 29 interviews were carried out An interview script was developed containing two storylines based on the Fourth Key: "Keep food at safe temperatures," which is part of the WHO's "Five Keys to Safer Food" manual. Further, the collective subject discourse technique, which is based on the theory of social representations, was employed to analyze each interview and construct a representative collective discourse. Analysis of the results indicated that lack of knowledge about safe food temperatures is mainly a result of the misunderstanding of technical terms. The collective discourses obtained results reinforced that food handlers had diverse and erroneous information about food defrosting, and they exhibited low confidence and clarity about safe food temperatures. Overall, psychological, social, and cultural factors affect the formation of social representations that guide food handlers' decision-making.

Cultural inclusion and corporate sustainability: evidence from food culture and corporate total factor productivity in China

This article constructed a food taste deviation index using text analysis based on food culture as a measure of cultural inclusion. Cultural inclusion was related to corporate total factor productivity, aiming to investigate whether the cultural inclusion affects corporate sustainability. The findings showed uneven distribution of cultural inclusion in various areas of China, contributing to the unbalanced sustainable development of firms in different regions, as reflected by the higher total factor productivity of firms located in regions with higher cultural inclusion. A test using mountainous undulation as an instrumental variable verified the causal relationship between cultural inclusion and firm sustainability. Besides, a regression discontinuity design was employed to mitigate the impacts of the bidirectional causality. Moreover, a high level of cultural inclusion in top managers' hometown significantly improved corporate sustainability, suggesting that executives can transmit cultural inclusion in society. In addition, firms in more inclusive regions are more motivated to increase their social responsibility to staff as a way to promote their total factor productivity, suggesting that cultural inclusion promotes firm sustainability by increasing firms' care for staff. This article also found that cultural inclusion has heterogeneous effects across firms of different levels of industry competition, and different levels of analyst attention. The research reveals the impact of cultural inclusion on the real economy and help academics dissect the informal institutional reasons behind the sustainable development of firms in different geographies from a new perspective, contributing to the promotion of economic sustainability at the regional level and related policy formulation.

"Maybe it's Not Just the Food?" A Food and Mood Focus Group Study

Epidemiological and intervention studies in nutritional psychiatry suggest that the risk of mood disorders is associated with what we eat. However, few studies use a person-centred approach to explore the food and mood relationship. In this qualitative study of 50 Australian participants, we explored individuals' experiences with food and mood as revealed during focus group discussions. Using a thematic template analysis, we identified three themes in the food and mood relationship: (i) social context: familial and cultural influences of food and mood, (ii) social economics: time, finance, and food security, and (iii) food nostalgia: unlocking memories that impact mood. Participants suggested that nutrients, food components or food patterns may not be the only way that food impacts mood. Rather, they described the social context of who, with, and where food is eaten, and that time, finances, and access to healthy fresh foods and bittersweet memories of foods shared with loved ones all impacted their mood. Findings suggest that quantitative studies examining the links between diet and mood should look beyond nutritional factors and give increased attention to the cultural, social, economic, and identity aspects of diet.

"It's about What You've Assigned to the Salad": Focus Group Discussions on the Relationship between Food and Mood

Current observational and interventional studies in nutritional psychiatry suggest that healthy dietary patterns rich in fresh whole foods could protect against depressive symptoms, and that unhealthy dietary patterns high in ultra-processed and refined foods could contribute to depressive symptoms. However, no studies have explored detailed subjective accounts behind the food and mood relationship. This study aimed to uncover unknown factors in the human experience with food and mood. Using a phenomenological framework, this focus group study applied thematic template analysis to accounts of over 50 Australians aged between 18 and 72. Three themes were identified from the transcript of the focus groups: (i) reactive and proactive relationships with food, (ii) acknowledgement of individual diversity relating to eating and mental health, and (iii) improving mood by removing food restriction and eating intuitively. The data highlights the complexity of the relationship between food and mood that extends beyond biological mechanisms which could be used to extend current epidemiological and intervention studies in the field of dietary patterns and depression.

A Preliminary Study on the Validity and Stability of Projective Methods: An Application of the Structural Approach of Social Representations with Traditional Mexican Cheeses

Projective methods are qualitative tools used to study food consumer behavior. In recent years, there has been an increase in studies that use these tools to analyze consumer behavior, particularly with the word association (WA) technique. However, one of the challenges in using these methods is the stability and validity of the data. This research aimed to obtain preliminary information on the stability and validity of the associations generated by consumers with the WA technique, using the structural approach of social representations. For this, two studies were carried out; for the first study, a face-to-face survey was carried out in which 89 consumers participated, who wrote the first words that came to mind with the stimulus “Aculco” on a ballot paper. For the second study, 122 consumers completed the same task as in the first study; however, the participants were recruited from an online survey. A random sample (n = 50) of both studies was selected to explore the stability and validity of the results. In the three study samples, the words were grouped into categories and analyzed through the structural approach of social representations. The frequency of mention of the identified categories was compared with the chi-square test and the average position (AP) and the Cognitive Salience Index (CSI) were calculated. Prototype maps were built to study the structure of the categories according to the central core and peripheral areas. Cluster analysis was performed to corroborate the structure of the representations. Finally, multiple factor analysis (MFA) was performed to determine the similarity of the results obtained from the three samples using the RV coefficient. No statistical differences (p > 0.05) were identified in most of the representations (n = 11) generated from the WA task. Furthermore, the representation “Cheese and dairy products” was positioned in the central core of the three maps. The APs and the CSIs of each representation were similar in the three study samples. The RV coefficient (≥0.80) indicated similarity in the representations obtained. Results of this research can be useful for future studies that attempt to compare the stability and validity of the information based on qualitative and more flexible methodologies. Some methodological implications related to the validity and stability of projective methods are discussed.

Conceptualizing a Product with the Food-Related Lifestyle Instrument

Product perception is important for consumers' acceptance, especially when it is associated with a geographical location. Consumers' food-related lifestyles (FRLs) have been used to better identify the role that beverages have in people lives. The present study was conducted to understand the conceptualization of mezcal according to consumers' FRLs. Four hundred mezcal consumers were surveyed in Mexico. Participants were asked to describe their experience with the product and consumption habits, to evaluate ten different FRL constructs, and to assess mezcal conceptualization using a check-all-that-apply test. A hierarchical cluster analysis was carried out on the composite variables of the evaluated constructs and their objective knowledge score to define segments. To visualize the relationships among FRL constructs and the terms used to describe mezcal, a multiple factorial analysis was carried out. The results showed four different mezcal clusters. The social and involved segment described the beverage with elements of traditional and food-related activities. The price-quality fixed segment was mainly associated with the product to handcraft process. Uninvolved consumers were not linked to specific terms and uninformed and unaware consumers were novice participants with mainly negative product connotations. Therefore, is important to consider consumers' FRLs to have a better understanding of product conceptualization.

Social Representations Theory in Creativity Research

Abstract. Due to the difficulties of understanding all the aspects of creativity, the study of this complex phenomenon has been placed at the crossroads of various disciplines. Among these, social psychology has been interested in this exploration. Incidentally, various approaches in creativity research highlighted the importance of social factors in the production, judgment, and acceptance of creative ideas. Contributions adopting such a social perspective naturally convoked different social psychological theories, among which is the Social Representations Theory. This theory focuses on the collective construction of shared knowledge and beliefs (social representations) within social groups. Interesting perspectives about the contribution of social representations to the study of creativity have been described in previous works. Nevertheless, these works remain rare despite the many possibilities offered by the theoretical and methodological framework of social representations. Consequently, the present contribution recalls briefly the main objectives that these previous works have pursued in order to highlight several unexplored lines of research that could promote theoretical, methodological, and applied advancement. These lines could enrich research related to the evaluation of creativity, the study of creativity as deviance, the stimulation of group creativity, and promote interdisciplinary work. This contribution aims to draw the attention of researchers to these under-exploited perspectives and stimulate the creation of many others to understand better the complex phenomenon of creativity.

Obesity and social representations among patients subjected to argon plasma coagulation (APC)

This study sought to identify the Social Representations of Obesity among 15 individuals who underwent bariatric surgery through the Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass (RYGB) method and were subjected to Argon Plasma Coagulation (APC) due to weight relapse. Data were collected through interviews and analyzed via Descending Hierarchical Classification. Obesity was associated with physical limitations and difficulties in social relationships. Prejudice and difficulty in changing habits are associated with the choice to undergo surgical treatment and to weight relapse. The suffering that goes along with obesity and the difficulty in changing habits seem to be associated with the search for surgical help.

The effects of psychopathology and shame on social representations of health and lifestyle behaviours via free association: a graph analysis approach

BACKGROUND

There is a knowledge gap in whether psychopathology aspects can shape and mark the social representations about health and lifestyle. In this work, we investigated the association of psychopathology and shame with the centrality of the words describing eight common social representations of health and lifestyle.

METHODS

A convenience sample of 288 adults participated with an average age of 44.7, and 62.6% were women. The participants were asked to express three consecutive words associated with eight different health and lifestyle experiences by utilizing the free association method. The participants also were completed the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R), the Experiences of Shame Scale (ESS), and the Other as Shamer Scale (OAS). Canonical correlation analysis was applied to investigate the relationship between the set of the eight-word centralities and the psycho-demographic variables consisting of the subject's age and gender, the SCL 90 subscales, the OAS, and the ESS. Based on these findings, a structural equation explorative model was formed to test the unidimensionality of the five centralities construct.

RESULTS

Τhe psychological characteristics of interpersonal sensitivity, depression, external shame, and hostility were found to affect the word selection process on the social representations concerning nightlife, health, diet, lifestyle, and alcohol consumption. Participants with increased levels of depression tend to choose more centrally positioned words when the stimulus word was diet and more decentralized responses when the stimulus word was health. At the same time, higher external shame corresponded to more decentralized words for the categories of health and lifestyle.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results indicate that there is a potential interaction between the psychological state and how a social representation of health and lifestyle is constructed through selected words. Graph theory emerged as an additional tool to use to study these relations.

Original burger (traditional) or burger with mushroom addition? A social representation approach to novel foods

Currently, consumers' interest in healthy products has attracted the attention of academia and the meat industry, which has focused mainly on incorporating ingredients with healthier properties. In this context, the aim of this study was to investigate the social representation of original burgers and burgers with mushroom addition considering different sexes and body mass indexes (BMIs) of individuals. Thus, 209 Brazilians answered a word association task followed by a word classification based on their importance and valence for original burgers and burgers with the addition of mushrooms. To obtain the structure of social representation, the words were positioned into four distinct zones based on their frequency of elicitation and importance. Also, the polarity index was used to give a connotation to the words. Three groups of consumers were identified. The first group (consumers with class-1 obesity of both sexes) associated the original burger with positive categories (cheese, juicy, seasoned, food, tasty, joy, salad and delicious). The second one (female consumers with pre-obesity and class-1 obesity) associated the burger with the addition of mushrooms with the elements price, different, vegetarian, flavor, gourmet and healthy. Finally, the third group (men and women for both stimuli and with a wide range of BMI) characterized burgers with sensory attributes, feelings and moments of consumption. In conclusion, the social representation of the original burger and the burger with the addition of mushrooms differed among consumers, suggesting that the main associations can be the main motivations for the consumption of a certain product.

Cross-cultural representations of gastronomy among consumers in two Latin American countries

Gastronomy is one of the cultural emblems of each region and represents the way each society feeds. The aim of this article was to understand the cross-cultural representations of the concept of gastronomy among consumers in Argentina (ARG) and Mexico (MEX). A survey in which 479 consumers of both countries were recruited (ARG = 249, MEX = 230), who had to complete a word association task, was designed. Words were grouped into categories and the differences in the frequency of mention were analyzed with the Chi Square test. Furthermore, results were analyzed to identify the central core and the peripheral areas of the social representations. Cognitive Salience Index (CSI) was calculated to determine the most important representations. The representations of the gastronomy concept in both countries indicate a strong link to culture, food, pleasure by eating and sensory characteristics of foods and dishes. However, the field of representation, the hierarchy of representations and the cognitive and attitudinal importance were different among Mexican and Argentine consumers, which suggests that gastronomy promotion campaigns for both countries should be oriented according to consumers' perceptions.

“Drink It or Not”: Soft Drink Anticonsumption Behavior and the Mediating Effect of Behavioral Intentions

Increased health risks and obesity resulting from soft drink consumption have received considerable attention worldwide. The purpose of this empirical study was to explore the antecedents of soft drink anticonsumption behavior in China using structural equation modeling techniques by analysis of moment structures (AMOS). Soft drink anticonsumers think that these drinks are unhealthy, and consumer attitude and behavioral intention towards anticonsumption behavior were found to be significant. Individual and sociocultural factors were also positively associated with anticonsumption of soft drinks in China. Future studies could examine gender differences in anticonsumption behavior. A large sample size would be more reflective in other contexts. Regarding health and obesity-reduction concerns, this study provides useful implications for marketers and policymakers. Soft drink marketers can integrate obesity-reduction efforts through social marketing. This study has put forward a conceptual framework for soft drink anticonsumption behavior focusing on health concerns and the effect of sociocultural factors on anticonsumption.