Pub Date : 2025-12-14DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105834
Roberta Capitello, Claudia Bazzani, Diego Begalli
This study explores consumer demand for craft beer and craft wine in Italy, a traditionally wine-oriented country where wine consumption is declining while beer consumption is increasing. Using a choice experiment across four on-premise contexts (traditional restaurant, aperitif bar, sushi restaurant, and pizzeria), we analyze consumer preferences for craft and industrial variants. Data from 275 consumers were estimated with mixed logit models to derive willingness to pay (WTP), market shares, demand curves, and price elasticities. Results show that the craft attribute raises preferences across all contexts, with craft wine valued most in restaurants and craft beer in pizzerias. Demand elasticities differ by venue. Substitution patterns also emerge as craft beer competes primarily with its industrial counterpart, while craft wine shows stronger substitution with craft beer in some contexts, underscoring asymmetric relationships between products. Findings highlight the importance of context and craftsmanship in shaping demand and guide pricing and marketing strategies.
{"title":"Demand for craft beer and craft wine: A choice experiment across on-premise contexts","authors":"Roberta Capitello, Claudia Bazzani, Diego Begalli","doi":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105834","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105834","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explores consumer demand for craft beer and craft wine in Italy, a traditionally wine-oriented country where wine consumption is declining while beer consumption is increasing. Using a choice experiment across four on-premise contexts (traditional restaurant, aperitif bar, sushi restaurant, and pizzeria), we analyze consumer preferences for craft and industrial variants. Data from 275 consumers were estimated with mixed logit models to derive willingness to pay (WTP), market shares, demand curves, and price elasticities. Results show that the craft attribute raises preferences across all contexts, with craft wine valued most in restaurants and craft beer in pizzerias. Demand elasticities differ by venue. Substitution patterns also emerge as craft beer competes primarily with its industrial counterpart, while craft wine shows stronger substitution with craft beer in some contexts, underscoring asymmetric relationships between products. Findings highlight the importance of context and craftsmanship in shaping demand and guide pricing and marketing strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":322,"journal":{"name":"Food Quality and Preference","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 105834"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-12-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145880798","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-13DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105831
Rubing Bai , Baolong Ma , Zhichen Hu
As consumers' focus on healthy eating grows, enhancing their trust in organic food promotion has become an urgent industry priority. This paper reveals a new visual approach —anatomical depiction —and its enhancement of consumers' organic food purchase intention. This effect occurs because anatomical depiction elicits consumers' imagery of food making and plating, which is defined as “simulated making process”, thereby strengthening trust in organic food. Four preregistered experiments (data from Wenjuan.com) were conducted to verify these effects. SPSS 24.0 was used for data analysis, and G*Power was employed for post-hoc power analysis. A prestudy (n = 145, Chi-square) provided evidence for the simulated making process; Study1 (n = 192, ANOVA) showed the anatomical depiction's main effect; Study2 (n = 194, PROCESS model 6) validated serial mediation; Study3 (n = 201, PROCESS model 91) found more substantial effects for high (vs. low) ingredient diversity. This paper is the first to investigate the downstream effects of anatomical depiction in organic food research, identifying it as a trust mechanism with ingredient diversity as a boundary. These insights extend theoretical boundaries in visual cues and offer actionable recommendations, such as prioritizing anatomical depiction for high diversity organic food to optimize management and strengthen trust.
{"title":"Imagine it, trust it: How anatomical depiction influences consumer intention to purchase organic food","authors":"Rubing Bai , Baolong Ma , Zhichen Hu","doi":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105831","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105831","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As consumers' focus on healthy eating grows, enhancing their trust in organic food promotion has become an urgent industry priority. This paper reveals a new visual approach —anatomical depiction —and its enhancement of consumers' organic food purchase intention. This effect occurs because anatomical depiction elicits consumers' imagery of food making and plating, which is defined as “simulated making process”, thereby strengthening trust in organic food. Four preregistered experiments (data from <span><span>Wenjuan.com</span><svg><path></path></svg></span>) were conducted to verify these effects. SPSS 24.0 was used for data analysis, and G*Power was employed for post-hoc power analysis. A prestudy (<em>n</em> = 145, Chi-square) provided evidence for the simulated making process; Study1 (<em>n</em> = 192, ANOVA) showed the anatomical depiction's main effect; Study2 (<em>n</em> = 194, PROCESS model 6) validated serial mediation; Study3 (<em>n</em> = 201, PROCESS model 91) found more substantial effects for high (vs. low) ingredient diversity. This paper is the first to investigate the downstream effects of anatomical depiction in organic food research, identifying it as a trust mechanism with ingredient diversity as a boundary. These insights extend theoretical boundaries in visual cues and offer actionable recommendations, such as prioritizing anatomical depiction for high diversity organic food to optimize management and strengthen trust.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":322,"journal":{"name":"Food Quality and Preference","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 105831"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145798437","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-13DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105832
Jie Zhang, Zhengda Wu, Yulin Hu, Yilei Li, Jiayin Wang, Junhan Hu
Visual imperfections are a key barrier to consumer acceptance of imperfect fruits. A common cognitive bias—equating imperfection with spoilage (“ugly = spoiled”)—leads consumers to associate appearance defects with low quality or poor health, causing large amounts of edible waste. Although prior studies have improved willingness to buy (WTB), they have not fundamentally changed this perception. Moreover, the influence of packaging cues on reshaping such cognition remains underexplored. Grounded in cue utilization theory, this study designs an information label and tests its effectiveness through four online experiments involving strawberries, pears, and apples (N = 784 across 30 Chinese provinces). Results show that visual and textual cues on the label significantly increase consumers' WTB through a serial mediation of perceived naturalness and perceived quality. The indirect path—Information Cues → Perceived Naturalness → Perceived Quality → WTB—was significant (b = 0.775, 95 % CI: [0.5108, 1.0762]). These cues prompt consumers to reattribute visual imperfections to natural characteristics, thereby enhancing perceived quality and WTB. Furthermore, the label's effect remained stable when an organic certification was present, indicating a diminishing marginal effect of coexisting information cues (b = 0.095, 95 % CI: [−0.0290, 0.2426]). This study expands understanding of imperfect fruit consumption by revealing how external cues shape cognitive reconstruction and decision-making. It also provides actionable insights for packaging design, food waste reduction, and sustainable consumption promotion.
{"title":"Ugly outside, healthy inside: How packaging information labels shape consumer perceptions of imperfect fruits","authors":"Jie Zhang, Zhengda Wu, Yulin Hu, Yilei Li, Jiayin Wang, Junhan Hu","doi":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105832","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105832","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Visual imperfections are a key barrier to consumer acceptance of imperfect fruits. A common cognitive bias—equating imperfection with spoilage (“ugly = spoiled”)—leads consumers to associate appearance defects with low quality or poor health, causing large amounts of edible waste. Although prior studies have improved willingness to buy (WTB), they have not fundamentally changed this perception. Moreover, the influence of packaging cues on reshaping such cognition remains underexplored. Grounded in cue utilization theory, this study designs an information label and tests its effectiveness through four online experiments involving strawberries, pears, and apples (<em>N</em> = 784 across 30 Chinese provinces). Results show that visual and textual cues on the label significantly increase consumers' WTB through a serial mediation of perceived naturalness and perceived quality. The indirect path—Information Cues → Perceived Naturalness → Perceived Quality → WTB—was significant (b = 0.775, 95 % CI: [0.5108, 1.0762]). These cues prompt consumers to reattribute visual imperfections to natural characteristics, thereby enhancing perceived quality and WTB. Furthermore, the label's effect remained stable when an organic certification was present, indicating a diminishing marginal effect of coexisting information cues (b = 0.095, 95 % CI: [−0.0290, 0.2426]). This study expands understanding of imperfect fruit consumption by revealing how external cues shape cognitive reconstruction and decision-making. It also provides actionable insights for packaging design, food waste reduction, and sustainable consumption promotion.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":322,"journal":{"name":"Food Quality and Preference","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 105832"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145798435","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-12DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105829
Ong Quoc Cuong , Nguyen Thi Ngoc Thinh
With the growing demand for nutritionally fortified foods, snack bars have emerged as an ideal choice for integrating micronutrient-rich and naturally nutritious ingredients, in keeping with consumer trends that focus on nutritional value and health benefits. However, few studies have examined consumers’ preferences for snack bars that combine iron fortification with sustainability attributes. This study investigated Vietnamese consumers’ preferences and their willingness to pay for snack bars featuring iron fortification from pumpkin seeds, organic certification, and eco-friendly packaging. A discrete choice experiment was conducted with 402 consumers in Nha Trang, Vietnam. We used mixed logit and latent class logit approaches to analyze the choice behavior and preference heterogeneity for iron-fortified and sustainable snack bars. Consumers were willing to pay a price premium for all three attributes, with a higher marginal utility associated with iron fortification and organic certification. The interaction effects revealed that combining health and sustainability cues may reduce perceived value, indicating a substitution effect rather than a synergistic effect. Further analysis indicated that males and highly educated consumers were more likely to prefer iron-fortified products. Latent class analysis identified two distinct consumer segments: health-oriented eco-supporters and price-sensitive health seekers. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers and food producers for designing targeted policies and marketing strategies to promote nutritional enhancement and sustainable food consumption in emerging markets.
{"title":"Consumer preferences and willingness to pay for iron-fortified and sustainable snack bars: Evidence from a choice experiment in Vietnam","authors":"Ong Quoc Cuong , Nguyen Thi Ngoc Thinh","doi":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105829","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105829","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>With the growing demand for nutritionally fortified foods, snack bars have emerged as an ideal choice for integrating micronutrient-rich and naturally nutritious ingredients, in keeping with consumer trends that focus on nutritional value and health benefits. However, few studies have examined consumers’ preferences for snack bars that combine iron fortification with sustainability attributes. This study investigated Vietnamese consumers’ preferences and their willingness to pay for snack bars featuring iron fortification from pumpkin seeds, organic certification, and eco-friendly packaging. A discrete choice experiment was conducted with 402 consumers in Nha Trang, Vietnam. We used mixed logit and latent class logit approaches to analyze the choice behavior and preference heterogeneity for iron-fortified and sustainable snack bars. Consumers were willing to pay a price premium for all three attributes, with a higher marginal utility associated with iron fortification and organic certification. The interaction effects revealed that combining health and sustainability cues may reduce perceived value, indicating a substitution effect rather than a synergistic effect. Further analysis indicated that males and highly educated consumers were more likely to prefer iron-fortified products. Latent class analysis identified two distinct consumer segments: health-oriented eco-supporters and price-sensitive health seekers. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers and food producers for designing targeted policies and marketing strategies to promote nutritional enhancement and sustainable food consumption in emerging markets.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":322,"journal":{"name":"Food Quality and Preference","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 105829"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145798434","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-11DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105835
Juan Diego Torres , Laura Laguna , Carolina Chaya , Miriam Torres-Moreno , Amparo Tárrega
In a rapidly evolving market landscape, co-creation has emerged as a pivotal tool for product innovation from a consumer-centered perspective. This study examines the generation of ideas across different activities in creative sessions with consumers and how the inclusion of experts in food innovation influences this process. Six groups were formed, each comprising eight participants. In three groups, 50 % of the participants had expertise in food innovation, whereas the remaining three groups comprised only lay participants. Each group attended two creative sessions that included activities like empathy tasks, analogies, brainstorming, and dilemma-based exercises to develop concepts for new protein-enriched products for older adults. In total, 443 product ideas with varying degrees of novelty were generated. The resulting concepts were classified as 30 % new concepts, 48 % product improvements, and 22 % existing products or recipes. The study revealed that forced analogies and brainstorming were more effective in generating new concepts, whereas dilemmas yielded more product improvements. Including participants and experts in food innovation did not notably influence the quantity or novelty of the ideas generated through co-creation. Furthermore, having additional new groups was better for generating new and different ideas than extending the number of sessions with the same group. This study offers insights into how to design creative sessionsto generate innovative ideas at the early stages of new product development.
{"title":"Creative sessions for new product idea generation: Exploring the contribution of lay participants and food experts","authors":"Juan Diego Torres , Laura Laguna , Carolina Chaya , Miriam Torres-Moreno , Amparo Tárrega","doi":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105835","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105835","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In a rapidly evolving market landscape, co-creation has emerged as a pivotal tool for product innovation from a consumer-centered perspective. This study examines the generation of ideas across different activities in creative sessions with consumers and how the inclusion of experts in food innovation influences this process. Six groups were formed, each comprising eight participants. In three groups, 50 % of the participants had expertise in food innovation, whereas the remaining three groups comprised only lay participants. Each group attended two creative sessions that included activities like empathy tasks, analogies, brainstorming, and dilemma-based exercises to develop concepts for new protein-enriched products for older adults. In total, 443 product ideas with varying degrees of novelty were generated. The resulting concepts were classified as 30 % new concepts, 48 % product improvements, and 22 % existing products or recipes. The study revealed that forced analogies and brainstorming were more effective in generating new concepts, whereas dilemmas yielded more product improvements. Including participants and experts in food innovation did not notably influence the quantity or novelty of the ideas generated through co-creation. Furthermore, having additional new groups was better for generating new and different ideas than extending the number of sessions with the same group. This study offers insights into how to design creative sessionsto generate innovative ideas at the early stages of new product development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":322,"journal":{"name":"Food Quality and Preference","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 105835"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145798436","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-11DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105837
Igor Souza de Brito , Elson Rogerio Tavares Filho , Rebeca B.E. de Mattos , Mônica M. Pagani , Eliane T. Mársico , Adriano G. da Cruz , Carolina P.C. Martins , Erick A. Esmerino
The global shift toward sustainable diets has intensified interest in alternatives to conventional dairy. While plant-based products often encounter sensory and emotional barriers, hybrid yogurts (dairy products partially substituted with plant-based ingredients) are emerging as potential “sensory bridges” that may ease dietary transitions. Yet, little is known about how consumers emotionally and cognitively evaluate these innovations. This study aimed to map Brazilian consumers' expectations, emotions, and perceptions regarding traditional, hybrid, and plant-based yogurts. A multi-method approach integrated qualitative insights from online focus groups with quantitative data from Text Highlighting (TH), emotional profiling using the Circumplex-inspired Emotion Questionnaire (CEQ), and attribute associations via CATA. A total of 321 consumers participated. Results revealed that traditional yogurts elicited the strongest emotional comfort (secure/at ease, p < 0.001), while nut-based plant yogurts triggered higher negative emotions (unhappy/dissatisfied, p = 0.024). Coconut-based hybrids stood out by balancing emotional acceptance and functional perceptions, showing proximity to traditional products in terms of sensory familiarity and nutritional value, while incorporating sustainability-related attributes. Consumers perceived hybrids as promising solutions but still expressed apprehension linked to sensory deviations and ingredient unfamiliarity. Overall, the results demonstrate that dairy-coconut hybrid yogurts combine emotional acceptance with sensory familiarity, offering guidance for product formulation, consumer communication, and strategies to support gradual transitions toward more sustainable diets.
{"title":"Do hybrid yogurts ease dietary transitions? Multi-method evidence from Brazilian consumers","authors":"Igor Souza de Brito , Elson Rogerio Tavares Filho , Rebeca B.E. de Mattos , Mônica M. Pagani , Eliane T. Mársico , Adriano G. da Cruz , Carolina P.C. Martins , Erick A. Esmerino","doi":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105837","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105837","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The global shift toward sustainable diets has intensified interest in alternatives to conventional dairy. While plant-based products often encounter sensory and emotional barriers, hybrid yogurts (dairy products partially substituted with plant-based ingredients) are emerging as potential “sensory bridges” that may ease dietary transitions. Yet, little is known about how consumers emotionally and cognitively evaluate these innovations. This study aimed to map Brazilian consumers' expectations, emotions, and perceptions regarding traditional, hybrid, and plant-based yogurts. A multi-method approach integrated qualitative insights from online focus groups with quantitative data from Text Highlighting (TH), emotional profiling using the Circumplex-inspired Emotion Questionnaire (CEQ), and attribute associations via CATA. A total of 321 consumers participated. Results revealed that traditional yogurts elicited the strongest emotional comfort (secure/at ease, <em>p</em> < 0.001), while nut-based plant yogurts triggered higher negative emotions (unhappy/dissatisfied, <em>p</em> = 0.024). Coconut-based hybrids stood out by balancing emotional acceptance and functional perceptions, showing proximity to traditional products in terms of sensory familiarity and nutritional value, while incorporating sustainability-related attributes. Consumers perceived hybrids as promising solutions but still expressed apprehension linked to sensory deviations and ingredient unfamiliarity. Overall, the results demonstrate that dairy-coconut hybrid yogurts combine emotional acceptance with sensory familiarity, offering guidance for product formulation, consumer communication, and strategies to support gradual transitions toward more sustainable diets.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":322,"journal":{"name":"Food Quality and Preference","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 105837"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145749607","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In Japan, ‘lean’ type beef has gained attention in recent years in addition to the famous Wagyu beef. To optimize ‘lean’ beef marketing, this study aimed to clarify the differences between consumers and beef distributors, including carcass buyers, wholesalers, and purveyors, in Japan in the criteria for ‘lean’ as judged from visual marbling. A total of 23 images of beef with different marbling levels (min 2.6 % - max 63.9 %) were subjected to questionnaire study by both 133 consumers and 49 beef distributors. These subjects were asked whether each image of beef was perceived as ‘lean’ or ‘marbled.’ Response data were analyzed by a generalized liner model, with respondent categories as category predictor and marbling percentage of each image as a continuous predictor. At the same appearance of marbling, distributors were more likely to judge as ‘lean’ than consumers (P < 0.001). The maximum marbling percentage that meat distributors perceived ‘lean’ was estimated at 30.3 %, higher than the 17.5 % in consumers. The minimum marbling percentages that participants perceived as ‘marbled’ was estimated at 35.5 % among distributors, also higher than the 19.9 % among consumers. A quadratic regression model revealed that distributors perceived a higher percentage range of marbling as ‘just-right for everyday’ than consumers. These results showed that criteria for judging ‘lean’ or ‘marbled’ according to marbling appearance differed between consumers and distributors. Thus, for appropriate marketing of ‘lean’ beef in Japan, beef producers and distributors should understand consumers' quality perceptions based on marbling appearance, which differs from those of beef distributors.
{"title":"Japanese consumers and meat distributors differ in ‘lean’ beef criteria and in value perception based on appearance of beef marbling","authors":"Keisuke Sasaki , Genya Watanabe , Karin Akada , Shota Ishida , Masaya Komatsu , Michiyo Motoyama , Naoko Moriya , Shutaro Komai , Miyu Yoshida , Hiroki Sakurai , Saki Shinoda , Shogo Matsunaga , Atsushi Asano , Yuji Miyaguchi , Ikuyo Nakajima , Keigo Kuchida","doi":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105830","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105830","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In Japan, ‘lean’ type beef has gained attention in recent years in addition to the famous Wagyu beef. To optimize ‘lean’ beef marketing, this study aimed to clarify the differences between consumers and beef distributors, including carcass buyers, wholesalers, and purveyors, in Japan in the criteria for ‘lean’ as judged from visual marbling. A total of 23 images of beef with different marbling levels (min 2.6 % - max 63.9 %) were subjected to questionnaire study by both 133 consumers and 49 beef distributors. These subjects were asked whether each image of beef was perceived as ‘lean’ or ‘marbled.’ Response data were analyzed by a generalized liner model, with respondent categories as category predictor and marbling percentage of each image as a continuous predictor. At the same appearance of marbling, distributors were more likely to judge as ‘lean’ than consumers (<em>P</em> < 0.001). The maximum marbling percentage that meat distributors perceived ‘lean’ was estimated at 30.3 %, higher than the 17.5 % in consumers. The minimum marbling percentages that participants perceived as ‘marbled’ was estimated at 35.5 % among distributors, also higher than the 19.9 % among consumers. A quadratic regression model revealed that distributors perceived a higher percentage range of marbling as ‘just-right for everyday’ than consumers. These results showed that criteria for judging ‘lean’ or ‘marbled’ according to marbling appearance differed between consumers and distributors. Thus, for appropriate marketing of ‘lean’ beef in Japan, beef producers and distributors should understand consumers' quality perceptions based on marbling appearance, which differs from those of beef distributors.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":322,"journal":{"name":"Food Quality and Preference","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 105830"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145798438","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-10DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105833
Hae-Jung Park , Yeon-Joo Lee , Hee-Eun Lee , Yoon-Ah Jang , Hye-Seong Lee
As the global fresh-cut market grows, meeting diverse preferences is critical to product design and positioning. In practice, sensory acceptance can be measured as absolute liking or as reference-anchored relative satisfaction (e.g., DOSD); the two provide complementary views. This methods-focused study structured segmentation choices by measurement and data transformation, and compared three pathways on a single dataset: (i) segmentation by clustering on absolute liking (9-point; raw and centered 9-point) using AHC (with CLV and K + 1), (ii) reference-based segmentation from DOSD relative satisfaction (C summarizing the reference-relative satisfaction difference plus any reference-side bias, d′ reflecting bias-free satisfaction discrimination), and (iii) a hybrid that clusters reference-anchored DOSD profiles. Acceptance data (N = 110) were collected for eight lettuce cultivars (Korean and European types). In parallel, affect magnitude profiling (AMP) implemented with the double-faced applicability (DFA) test produced d′A sensory profiles; these were linked to acceptance via PLSR, and segment-specific drivers are presented as interpretable d′A profiles—consumer-term, SDT-based measures that quantify the magnitude of attribute applicability on a semantic-differential (bipolar) scale. Across pathways, absolute-liking clustering highlighted the overall liking structure; DOSD-based segmentation grouped consumers by satisfaction direction relative to the reference and was less sensitive to scale use; the hybrid combined anchoring with clustering to reveal profile-based subgroups. By explicitly detailing the response-bias implications of each pathway (scale use for liking; criterion/anchoring for DOSD), the study provided a practical decision framework for selecting full-sample (absolute), reference-based (DOSD), or hybrid approaches based on study goals and constraints, thereby supporting segmentation method selection and interpretation.
{"title":"Selecting segmentation strategies for sensory acceptance: Evidence from multiple full-sample and reference-based methods using absolute liking and relative satisfaction","authors":"Hae-Jung Park , Yeon-Joo Lee , Hee-Eun Lee , Yoon-Ah Jang , Hye-Seong Lee","doi":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105833","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105833","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As the global fresh-cut market grows, meeting diverse preferences is critical to product design and positioning. In practice, sensory acceptance can be measured as absolute liking or as reference-anchored relative satisfaction (e.g., DOSD); the two provide complementary views. This methods-focused study structured segmentation choices by measurement and data transformation, and compared three pathways on a single dataset: (i) segmentation by clustering on absolute liking (9-point; raw and centered 9-point) using AHC (with CLV and K + 1), (ii) reference-based segmentation from DOSD relative satisfaction (<em>C</em> summarizing the reference-relative satisfaction difference plus any reference-side bias, <em>d</em>′ reflecting bias-free satisfaction discrimination), and (iii) a hybrid that clusters reference-anchored DOSD profiles. Acceptance data (<em>N</em> = 110) were collected for eight lettuce cultivars (Korean and European types). In parallel, affect magnitude profiling (AMP) implemented with the double-faced applicability (DFA) test produced <em>d</em>′<sub><em>A</em></sub> sensory profiles; these were linked to acceptance via PLSR, and segment-specific drivers are presented as interpretable <em>d</em>′<sub><em>A</em></sub> profiles—consumer-term, SDT-based measures that quantify the magnitude of attribute applicability on a semantic-differential (bipolar) scale. Across pathways, absolute-liking clustering highlighted the overall liking structure; DOSD-based segmentation grouped consumers by satisfaction direction relative to the reference and was less sensitive to scale use; the hybrid combined anchoring with clustering to reveal profile-based subgroups. By explicitly detailing the response-bias implications of each pathway (scale use for liking; criterion/anchoring for DOSD), the study provided a practical decision framework for selecting full-sample (absolute), reference-based (DOSD), or hybrid approaches based on study goals and constraints, thereby supporting segmentation method selection and interpretation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":322,"journal":{"name":"Food Quality and Preference","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 105833"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145880799","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-10DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105826
Jonas Potthoff , Maya Gumussoy , Anne Schienle , Edwin S. Dalmaijer
In Western societies, many people are unfamiliar with insect-based foods and reject them, despite their promise as a sustainable alternative to conventional animal protein. This mobile eye-tracking study examined how people view and evaluate insect-based foods in a buffet setting. Thirty-seven participants (mean age = 26 years) freely viewed a buffet containing 12 items from four categories: insect-based snacks, novel non-insect snacks, familiar snacks, and non-food objects. Mobile eye-tracking measured total and mean fixation durations for each item. Participants also rated each food item on disgust and desire to eat. The findings show that insect-based and novel snacks were viewed significantly longer than familiar snacks and non-foods, indicating increased visual engagement rather than oculomotor avoidance. Mean fixation duration did not differ across categories. Insect-based snacks elicited significantly higher disgust and lower desire to eat than both novel and familiar snacks. In conclusion, despite high disgust and low desire to eat, insect-based snacks attracted more visual attention than familiar foods and non-foods. This suggests that food disgust is not associated with oculomotor avoidance which is commonly observed when disgust is elicited by non-food.
{"title":"Curious yet disgusted: A mobile eye-tracking investigation of visual attention to insect-based snacks in a buffet setting","authors":"Jonas Potthoff , Maya Gumussoy , Anne Schienle , Edwin S. Dalmaijer","doi":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105826","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105826","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In Western societies, many people are unfamiliar with insect-based foods and reject them, despite their promise as a sustainable alternative to conventional animal protein. This mobile eye-tracking study examined how people view and evaluate insect-based foods in a buffet setting. Thirty-seven participants (mean age = 26 years) freely viewed a buffet containing 12 items from four categories: insect-based snacks, novel non-insect snacks, familiar snacks, and non-food objects. Mobile eye-tracking measured total and mean fixation durations for each item. Participants also rated each food item on disgust and desire to eat. The findings show that insect-based and novel snacks were viewed significantly longer than familiar snacks and non-foods, indicating increased visual engagement rather than oculomotor avoidance. Mean fixation duration did not differ across categories. Insect-based snacks elicited significantly higher disgust and lower desire to eat than both novel and familiar snacks. In conclusion, despite high disgust and low desire to eat, insect-based snacks attracted more visual attention than familiar foods and non-foods. This suggests that food disgust is not associated with oculomotor avoidance which is commonly observed when disgust is elicited by non-food.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":322,"journal":{"name":"Food Quality and Preference","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 105826"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145749652","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-05DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105824
Chiara Chirilli , Maria Piochi , Qian Yang , Margaret Thibodeau , Janita Jossie Botha , Giada Luraschi , Joanne Hort , Luisa Torri
Thermal taster status (TTS), the ability to perceive tastes from lingual thermal stimulation, is a phenotype first observed in 2000. Due to limited data available, knowledge on this phenotype is still scarce. This review assessed existing literature (from 2000 to 2025) on TTS considering physiological aspects; methodological variables related to the determination of TTS and participant classification; socio-demographic factors and other orosensory phenotypes; the relationship between TTS and consumer affective responses to food and beverage. It showed that TTS represents a source of individual taste variation that discriminates between thermal tasters and thermal non-tasters, where the former are found to be more responsive to taste and chemesthetic sensations, in watery solutions, beverages and liquids. Despite only a few studies evaluating the effect of TTS on food and beverage sensory perception, it emerged that TTS could have an influence on food liking. However, several limitations in this field of research were identified and future research perspectives are suggested. This review contributes to understanding how this taste phenotype may play a key role in food preferences, food intake, and diet-related diseases. A deeper understanding of the impact of TTS on sensory perception through future research is warranted.
{"title":"Thermal taster status: A review of physiological aspects, methodological variables in phenotypical characterisation and relationship with sensory perception and affective response","authors":"Chiara Chirilli , Maria Piochi , Qian Yang , Margaret Thibodeau , Janita Jossie Botha , Giada Luraschi , Joanne Hort , Luisa Torri","doi":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105824","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105824","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Thermal taster status (TTS), the ability to perceive tastes from lingual thermal stimulation, is a phenotype first observed in 2000. Due to limited data available, knowledge on this phenotype is still scarce. This review assessed existing literature (from 2000 to 2025) on TTS considering physiological aspects; methodological variables related to the determination of TTS and participant classification; socio-demographic factors and other orosensory phenotypes; the relationship between TTS and consumer affective responses to food and beverage. It showed that TTS represents a source of individual taste variation that discriminates between thermal tasters and thermal non-tasters, where the former are found to be more responsive to taste and chemesthetic sensations, in watery solutions, beverages and liquids. Despite only a few studies evaluating the effect of TTS on food and beverage sensory perception, it emerged that TTS could have an influence on food liking. However, several limitations in this field of research were identified and future research perspectives are suggested. This review contributes to understanding how this taste phenotype may play a key role in food preferences, food intake, and diet-related diseases. A deeper understanding of the impact of TTS on sensory perception through future research is warranted.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":322,"journal":{"name":"Food Quality and Preference","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 105824"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145749608","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号