Nutrition, hedonic or environmental? The effect of front-of-pack messages on consumers' perception and purchase intention of a novel food product with multiple attributes

The effect of a One Health message intervention on willingness to pay for antibiotic-free animal foods: A randomized controlled trial among Chinese college students

Routine use of antibiotics in livestock for prophylactic purposes is a main driver of antimicrobial resistance, posing a significant threat to the health of humans, animals, and the environment. Ways to motivate farmers to voluntarily reduce antibiotics use need to be explored. Promoting antibiotic-free animal foods is one of the promising strategies. A three-arm double-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted online to explore the impact of a One Health message intervention on Chinese college students' willingness to pay for antibiotic-free animal foods. A total of 389 individuals participated in this study and were randomly assigned to one of the One Health message group, the food nutrition and safety message group, and the no message group. Each participant read a message from the corresponding group and answered a self-report questionnaire. Participants' willingness to pay (WTP) and willingness to buy (WTB) for antibiotic-free pork, eggs, and milk were measured before and after viewing the One Health message, and the results were compared to the other two groups using the Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test and the Bonferroni correction. In the One Health message group, 30.2% (39/129) reported improved WTP for all three foods, compared to 6.2% (8/130) and 13.6% (17/125) in the food nutrition and safety message group and the no message group, respectively. The One Health message intervention had a significant effect on increasing participants' WTP (p < 0.001) and WTB (p < 0.05) for antibiotic-free pork, eggs, and milk. The One Health message intervention is effective in raising participants' WTP for antibiotic-free animal foods. It is hopeful to motivate farmers and producers to voluntarily reduce prophylactic antibiotic use through market demand and consumer choice, leading to a potential decrease in total antibiotics use in livestock. Additionally, integrated approaches based on One Health principles need to be found in the future.

The impact of brand trust on consumers' behavior toward agricultural products' regional public brand

The importance of agricultural products' regional public brands, owned by relevant organizations and jointly used by several agricultural production and operation entities, is increasing in contemporary marketing research. Based on a survey of 544 consumers, this study investigates the influence of brand trust, attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control on their purchase intention and behavior toward agricultural products' regional public brand. Through SEM, we find that brand trust toward agricultural products' regional public brand positively influences consumer attitude, purchase intention, and purchase behavior. In addition, attitude and purchase intention mediate the relationship between brand trust and purchase behavior. While attitude and perceived behavioral control positively affect purchase intention, no similar effect is found for subjective norms. Moreover, multigroup invariance tests demonstrate that consumer behavior can be influenced by factors such as gender, age, monthly income, marital status, previous visits to the region, and purchase purpose. We therefore recommend that to bolster competitiveness, regional public brand stakeholders maintain agricultural product quality, ensure reliable purchasing and transportation channels, and enhance brand trust.

How different advertising appeals (green vs. non-green) impact consumers' willingness to pay a premium for green agricultural products

Green food has exceptional impacts in addressing food safety and environmental challenges. However, consumers' perception of green food is not substantial, which results in a decline in consumption intention. Since advertising appeals can play a bridging role in resolving information asymmetry. This study is based on self-construal theory, chooses green agricultural products images and text as experimental stimuli, and analyzes the interaction and influence mechanism between advertising appeals and consumers' willingness to pay a premium for green agricultural products through three sets of experimental studies. The findings demonstrate that self-construal and green agricultural product advertising appeals interact to influence consumers' willingness to pay a premium for green agricultural products. Green perceived value is more strongly influenced by matching dependent self-construal and green advertising appeals than non-green advertising appeals. Green perceived value plays a full mediating role in this interactive effect. Green agricultural products companies should adopt different advertising strategies according to the various categories of consumers to enhance consumers' green perceived value and increase the willingness to pay a premium.

The Effect of Novel and Environmentally Friendly Foods on Consumer Attitude and Behavior: A Value-Attitude-Behavioral Model

Extreme weather conditions have intensified due to manufactured environmental damage in recent years. To reduce the environmental impact on the Earth, many consumers seek to change their dietary patterns to protect the environment and voluntarily switch to a vegetarian diet. Past studies have found that the transition from nonvegetarian to vegetarian is not easy, but promoting the consumption of alternative foods such as plant-based meat alternatives should help consumers gradually reduce their dependence on meat during the transition period of changing their eating habits. This study was designed to apply the value-attitude-behavior model (VAB) to study the consumption attitude and behavior of novel and environmentally friendly foods such as plant-based meat alternatives, and the novelty of plant-based meat alternatives was included as an intervening variable for discussion. In this study, 376 valid questionnaires were collected from college students in Taiwan, and the recovery rate of valid questionnaires was 94%. It was found from the analysis of results that perceptions of green value and animal welfare value had a significantly positive effect on attitude, while attitude and product knowledge also had a significant positive effect on behavior; however, the novelty of plant-based meat alternatives products did not have an interference effect on the relationship between product knowledge and behavior. Based on the research findings of this study, it is suggested that when introducing plant-based meat alternatives products, food companies should not only let consumers understand that they are based on environmental friendliness and animal welfare values but also enhance the marketing and promotion of product knowledge to increase consumers' confidence in purchasing plant-based meat alternatives and reduce their consumption concerns.

Consumer acceptability of plant-, seaweed-, and insect-based foods as alternatives to meat: a critical compilation of a decade of research

There is a growing criticism of meat-based products over environment, animal welfare, and public health. Meat lovers are keeping and adapting their habits, while other consumers are increasingly shifting toward meat alternatives considered as healthier and more sustainable options to replace the animal-based products. This transition gives room in the market to plant-, seaweed-, and insect-based meat products alternatives. Nevertheless, these emerging markets are still facing the challenge of consumers' acceptance and the uncertainty in terms of preferences. This paper focuses on in-depth understanding of consumer perception and acceptability of plant-, seaweed-, and insect-based meat products to get insights on their current situation and future implementation. The main factors and motives influencing the consumer perceptions toward meat alternative products are reported. Further, the consumers' motives and drivers to consume alternative products were highlighted. This review, provides a better understanding of motives and drivers of consumers' acceptance to improve the acceptability of meat alternatives, considering product and country origin of the consumers of meat alternative foods.Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2022.2036096.

Sensory Features Introduced by Brewery Spent Grain with Impact on Consumers' Motivations and Emotions for Fibre-Enriched Products

The aim of this work was both to formulate three different fibre-enriched products by the addition of Brewery Spent Grain (BSG), and to evaluate the impact of this fibre enrichment on sensory quality, acceptability, and purchase intention under blind conditions. BSG was incorporated into bread, pasta, and chocolate milk at levels of 8.3%, 2.8%, and 0.35% (w/w), respectively. The fibre-enriched products and their regular counterparts were evaluated together by consumers through a CATA questionnaire, the EsSense 25 Profile, an overall acceptability rating, and a purchase intention ranking. Although fibre-enriched bread and chocolate milk ranked lower in overall acceptability compared with their counterparts, no significant difference was found for fibre-enriched pasta (p > 0.05). Purchase intention did not differ significantly for both bread and pasta (p > 0.05), yet the reasons for purchasing them differed significantly (p < 0.05). Consumers recognised the fibre enrichment in these two products and, therefore, were willing to partially compromise on sensory attributes. The fibre-enriched chocolate milk, nonetheless, scored significantly (p < 0.05) lower in purchase intention than the control. This work demonstrates that the effect of BSG addition is product-specific, and that fibre perception makes consumers feel more confident.

Effect of Geographical Indication Information on Consumer Acceptability of Cooked Aromatic Rice

Geographical indication (GI) labeling is used to represent information about specific geographical origins of target products. This study aimed at determining the impact of GI information on sensory perception and acceptance of cooked aromatic rice samples. Ninety-nine participants evaluated cooked rice samples prepared using each of three aromatic rice varieties both with and without being provided with GI information. Participants rated the acceptance and intensity of the cooked rice samples in terms of appearance, aroma, flavor, texture, and overall liking, and also reported how important the GI information was to them. The results showed that consumers rated the cooked rice samples higher in appearance and overall liking when provided with GI information. Interestingly, participants who valued “state-of-origin” information more highly exhibited increased hedonic ratings of cooked rice samples when provided with GI information, but not when no GI information was given. Participants provided with GI information rated flavor or sweetness intensities of cooked aromatic rice samples closer to just-about-right than those without such information. This study provides empirical evidence about how GI information modulates sensory perception and acceptance of cooked aromatic rice samples. The findings will help rice industry, farmers, and traders better employ GI labeling to increase consumer acceptability of their rice products.

Supermarket Circulars Promoting the Sales of 'Healthy' Foods: Analysis Based on Degree of Processing

The health and wellness food sector grew 98% from 2009 to 2014 in Brazil, the world's fourth-biggest market. The trend has reached supermarket circulars, which recently started to feature whole sections advertising health and wellness-enhancing foods. This study identified food items advertised in circulars' specific sections of two Brazilian supermarket chains (one regional, one national) during a 10-week period. Foods were classified according to degree of food processing and presence/type of claims on their front-of-pack (FoP) labels. Comparison between groups of Unprocessed/Minimally Processed foods vs. Ultra-processed foods and presence/type of claims employed Pearson chi-square test. From the 434 alleged health and wellness-enhancing foods advertised, around half (51.4%) were classified as Ultra-processed. Presence of reduced and increased nutrient-content claims was significantly higher in labels of Ultra-processed foods. Most frequent claims addressed sugar and fibre content. Brazilian supermarket circulars were found to be promoting the sale of Ultra-processed foods in their health and wellness sections, leading to a situation that can mislead the consumer and bring negative health outcomes.

Fruit Sector Strategic Management: An Exploration of Agro-food Chain Actors’ Perception of Market Sustainability of Apple Innovation

The fresh fruit industry is a highly dynamic sector in the food market. Fresh fruit chain actors have to adapt to the changing market environment in order to face upcoming challenges. The objective of this study is to analyze the market sustainability of red-fleshed apples (RFA) by exploring consumers’ and fresh fruit industry experts’ and stakeholders’ opinions in Italy and New Zealand. The study was carried out in Italy and New Zealand from December 2018 to June 2019 including 778 consumers and 29 expert and stakeholder interviews. Results show a promising market potential of RFA. Innovative attributes and nutritional value of RFA are the most important factors that push consumers’ interest and willingness to buy RFA. New Zealand consumers and women show a higher appreciation of RFA. The nutritional value of the fruit can be a strategic marketing management attribute especially for health-conscious consumers. However, experts think the market for RFA will develop slowly, and will remain a niche product. Some stakeholders are skeptical about consumer RFA appreciation, and fear that RFA are too radical a novelty on the market. The RFA may be perceived as not natural. There is the need to coordinate food chain stakeholders’ management practices on RFA. This allows to mitigate risks, set food standards acceptable for all chain stakeholders, and make sustainable economic investment on innovation.