The role of product information on consumer sensory evaluation, expectations, experiences and emotions of cricket-flour-containing buns

TY - JOUR

T1 - The role of product information on consumer sensory evaluation, expectations, experiences and emotions of cricket-flour-containing buns

AU - Pambo, Kennedy O.

AU - Okello, Julius J.

AU - Mbeche, Robert M.

AU - Kinyuru, John N.

AU - Alemu, Mohammed Hussen

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - Studies suggest that consumer' acceptance of edible insects can be enhanced by processing and blending them with familiar food products. This is however, expected to result in changes in some sensory attributes. In this study, we investigated how consumers evaluate the appropriateness of sensory attributes of a common bakery product (buns) that was blended with cricket-flour i.e., cricket-flour-containing (CFC) buns. We also tested whether provision of information can modulate the sensory evaluations, personal involvement and emotions. The study is based on a field experiment involving 432 participants drawn from rural communities in Kenya. Participants were randomly assigned to 3 information treatment groups: i) Control group - received only general information, ii) Treatment 1 – received general information and information about the benefits (i.e., positive attributes), iii) Treatment 2 – received general information and information about the potential drawbacks (i.e., negative attributes). Participants evaluated the CFC buns before and after tasting using Just-About-Right (JAR) scale. Results indicate that providing product information affected sensory evaluation of the product's sensory attributes. They also indicate that actual tasting of the CFC buns improved the convergence of sensory evaluation of the attributes towards the ideal level. Results further show that CFC buns elicited more positive feelings with little differences in the emotional profiles between the information treatments, which suggests general interest in the buns. These results provide useful insights on how to enhance consumer acceptance of insect-based foods. We discuss the implications of the findings.

AB - Studies suggest that consumer' acceptance of edible insects can be enhanced by processing and blending them with familiar food products. This is however, expected to result in changes in some sensory attributes. In this study, we investigated how consumers evaluate the appropriateness of sensory attributes of a common bakery product (buns) that was blended with cricket-flour i.e., cricket-flour-containing (CFC) buns. We also tested whether provision of information can modulate the sensory evaluations, personal involvement and emotions. The study is based on a field experiment involving 432 participants drawn from rural communities in Kenya. Participants were randomly assigned to 3 information treatment groups: i) Control group - received only general information, ii) Treatment 1 – received general information and information about the benefits (i.e., positive attributes), iii) Treatment 2 – received general information and information about the potential drawbacks (i.e., negative attributes). Participants evaluated the CFC buns before and after tasting using Just-About-Right (JAR) scale. Results indicate that providing product information affected sensory evaluation of the product's sensory attributes. They also indicate that actual tasting of the CFC buns improved the convergence of sensory evaluation of the attributes towards the ideal level. Results further show that CFC buns elicited more positive feelings with little differences in the emotional profiles between the information treatments, which suggests general interest in the buns. These results provide useful insights on how to enhance consumer acceptance of insect-based foods. We discuss the implications of the findings.

KW - Edible insects

KW - Emotions

KW - Just-about-right scale

KW - Product information

KW - Product involvement

KW - Sensory attributes

U2 - 10.1016/j.foodres.2018.01.011

DO - 10.1016/j.foodres.2018.01.011

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 29579957

SN - 0963-9969

VL - 106

SP - 532

EP - 541

JO - Food Research International

JF - Food Research International

ER -