Food Quality and Preference最新文献

Plate size causes the Delboeuf illusion, and impacts food craving and food consumption. However, the underlying cognitive mechanism of the Delboeuf illusion remains unknown. This research adopted the food attention processing theory to gain an in-depth understanding of how the Delboeuf illusion impacts attention orientation, and to examine whether this effect varies between high- and low-calorie foods. Forty women completed a food-house task with eye-tracking, and evaluated the palatability and healthiness attributes of each food. The results showed that high-calorie (versus low-calorie) foods and small (versus large) plates were more capable of capturing attention. Notably, there was a joint effect of calorie content and plate size on food attention bias, suggesting that the Delboeuf illusion’s effect on food attentional bias differs according to calorie content. Interestingly, there was a moderated mediation effect of plate size, with the mediating effect of perceived healthiness on the relationship between calorie content and food attention bias when foods were placed on a small plate, but not on a large plate. However, we observed an attention bias towards high- versus low-calorie foods through the mediating effect of perceived palatability, irrespective of plate size. Our findings suggest that high-calorie foods, whether placed on a small or large plate, automatically attract attention due to their palatability. However, low-calorie foods are more capable of attracting attention when placed on a small plate, indicating that the Delboeuf illusion caused by plate size enhances the perceived healthiness of low-calorie foods.

Loud background noise poses a significant challenge in social dining for the hard-of-hearing community. This study aimed to determine the effect of hearing loss on individuals’ experiences with respect to perception and acceptance of food and eating environments, and engagements during social dining by comparing the two groups of normal hearing (NH) and hearing loss (HL). Participants in the NH and HL groups were asked to evaluate their perception and acceptance of garlic bread and pita chips while dining together in an immersive room designed to replicate the dining atmosphere of a local restaurant. The participants of this study were strangers to one another. During a social dining task, participants were also asked to rate perception and experience of eating environments as well as their interactions and engagements. The results showed that the HL group, in comparison to the NH group, exhibited a lower acceptance for the texture of garlic bread and perceived its flavors as less intense. Unlike the NH group, the HL group did not exhibit a significant correlation between the perceived intensities of biting sounds and crispness of pita chips. The HL group reported disliking raising their voices during social dining more frequently compared to the NH group. The HL group also exhibited significantly less engagement during a social dining task than the NH group. In conclusion, this study provides empirical evidence that hearing loss impacts individuals’ perception and acceptance of the food they consume, as well as their engagement in dining experiences during social meals.

This study explores children’s food acceptance, liking of single foods, with a focus on whether children expect that people share similar food likes considering the evolutionary, biological, and social underpinnings of this domain. In this study, 41 children (M_age = 8.26 years; 37 % female, 56 % male, 7 % nonbinary; 85.4 % White, 7.2 % Bi/Multiracial, 4.8 % Asian, 2.4 % Black) were asked about their own liking and to predict others’ liking of two food product categories: ice cream and broccoli. The results reveal that children report stronger food liking for themselves than others (Cohen’s d’s > 0.50), but only for ice cream, not broccoli (Cohen’s d’s > 0.40). These results begin to suggest that children recognize that their food acceptance can vary from others’, which has potential implications across diverse fields (e.g., psychology, consumer science, education, and dietetics). For example, the findings can inform food product development by enabling tailored designs for children’s distinct food likes. Moreover, understanding children’s food likes can be used to promote healthful eating and influence food purchases as children become consumers.

Prior studies have primarily concentrated on the role of food imagery, which depicts the food itself or its ingredients, in conveying food messages, with less emphasis on background imagery. Background imagery, which often carries symbolic or metaphorical meanings through the depiction of food-related and non-food-related subjects, also serves as a vital medium for communicating food messages. This study investigates the role of natural imagery, a type of background imagery, in transmitting health-related attributes of food. This study employed an implicit association test (IAT) alongside three scenario experiments. The findings demonstrate that natural imagery triggers a health association with food, leading to a favorable product attitude, referred to as the “health metaphor effect.” Subsequently, the boundary conditions for this effect were examined, revealing its presence in healthy product categories as opposed to unhealthy ones. Building upon these findings, the study also assessed the influence of food imagery in food visuals on the role of natural imagery. The result indicates that, for healthy foods, the health metaphor effect is more pronounced when the food imagery is depicted in a processed (vs. raw) state.

To improve healthier food choice behaviors, it is necessary to investigate individual’s perceived importance of relevant motives involved in food purchase decisions. In this study, the Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ) was introduced to the Chinese population, and a more robust FCQ version (C-FCQ) containing 26 items loaded on eight first-order factors (Health, Nature content, Weight control, Mood, Familiarity, Sensory appeal, Convenience, Price) and three second-order factors (Composition concerns, Senses and Emotions, Time and Money saving) was obtained. There were 964 Chinese adults (66.49 % female) in this study, and 69 of whom completed a retest two weeks later. The composite reliability of the first and the second-order factors are above 0.7, and the test–retest reliability was 0.849. The C-FCQ was successfully used to compare differences in food choice motivation among Chinese groups with different demographic characteristics. The results showed that there were significant differences in food choice motivations among the different groups, and Sensory appeal, Health, and Price were the most important factors in Chinese residents’ food choices.

Labels and claims representing inherent health- or environment-related attributes contribute to shaping consumer product preferences and perceptions. Palm oil-related labels and claims foster assumptions about individual, social and planetary health. Although consumers in palm oil-importing countries view this commodity with scepticism, a consumer-endorsed trend towards its elimination may cause unintended shifts in environmental impacts. Instead of eliminating palm oil from industries, scientists often acknowledge the benefits of sustainably produced palm oil as a better alternative. A research gap exists to better explain consumer acceptance or rejection of products containing palm oil. To understand how palm oil-related labels and claims influence the perceived sustainability and healthiness of products, an online study was conducted with German consumers (n = 411). Predictors influencing sustainability perceptions were integrated into a Structural Equation Model to explore how these leverage positive or negative perspectives towards the absence of palm oil or the presence of certified sustainable palm oil. This study reveals that products containing no palm oil are perceived to be healthier and more sustainable. We find that sentiments towards palm oil do not necessarily follow traditional trajectories, but are underpinned by disjoint relationships and previously established judgments. Label heuristics are more influential in shaping these perceptions, making them prone to misinterpretation. A proliferation of ‘free from’ claims haloed with sustainability assumptions compromises the progress achieved within the certified sector. This calls for more sensitivity towards products containing certified palm oil, so that assumptions align with reality and consumer perceptions are not barking up the wrong tree.

During eating, exogenous sources of oral lubrication like dips facilitate oral processing, which has been shown to influence food intake. However, few studies have directly assessed how exogenous oral lubrication (via added dip) affects acute intake, especially while snacking. In two laboratory visits, adults (n = 46, 74 % female) were served 70 g of ranch-flavored chips (2.5 servings) with or without 95 g of energy-matched ranch dip, and ad libitum intake was measured. All sessions were video recorded and annotated for number of bites and active eating time (min), which were used to calculate measures of eating microstructure, including eating rate (g/min) and bite size (g/bite). The chips + dip condition yielded 77 % greater intake (64.3 ± 16.2 g versus 36.4 ± 16.2 g; 344.6 ± 86.8 kcal versus 195.1 ± 86.8 kcal; p < 0.001) and a faster total eating rate (p < 0.001) relative to the no-dip control, despite lower initial liking of the dip condition (p = 0.002). However, there was no difference in chip intake (p = 0.83) or chip eating rate (p = 0.11) by condition. Thus, in this chips and dip snack, the greater intake in the dip condition may have been facilitated by a larger total snack bite size (p < 0.001) resulting from dip inclusion, as opposed to faster chip eating rate as a function of the lubricating dip.

The Eco-Score is an approach to make the environmental impact of a food product visible using color-coded labeling. Previous research has shown the potential of organic and ethical labels to influence consumers’ perceptions of other product features – what is called the halo effect. Using an online questionnaire with a between-subject design and a representative sample for Germany (N = 1010), we examined whether the Eco-Score might also induce halo effects. Therefore, we evaluated how consumers assess the perceived environmental friendliness, expected tastiness, and perceived healthiness of packaged foods with or without an Eco-Score. We consider three different products (spaghetti, yoghurt, and crisps) in three treatment groups (Eco-Scores A, C, and E) and one control group (no label). For our statistical analyses, we employed repeated-measures ANOVAs and regression-based mediation analyses. Our results show that products are perceived as more (Eco-Score A) or less (Eco-Score E) environmentally friendly when labelled with the Eco-Score and this perception mediates the purchase intention positively or negatively, respectively. Furthermore, our results suggest that the Eco-Score can bias consumer perceptions of other food product characteristics. In particular, the Eco-Score E negatively influences expected tastiness and perceived healthiness, which lowers purchase intention. Regression-based moderation analyses show further that participants with high environmental or health concern are in part more susceptible to positive halo effects. However, overall, the moderator effects are small. The paper extends the literature on halo effects related to food labeling and hence provides important insights on perceptions of food products labelled with a color-coded scoring system. Theoretical and practical implications as well as avenues for future research are discussed.

A promising strategy to encourage portion control involves clear guidance and portion information on product packaging alongside nutrition details. However, literature on the impact of this information on serving sizes is conflicting. To gather more objective evidence about how consumers interact with on-pack portion guidance, we conducted a laboratory-based eye-tracker study with 66 participants completing two portion-size estimation tasks. In the first, participants estimated serving sizes indirectly by gauging how many people a product pack could serve. The second task involved direct portion size selection using pictorial representations of the food portion on a virtual plate. Additionally, we explored how participants’ familiarity with products affected their portion estimations. Results: when portion guidance was presented, errors in portion estimation significantly decreased only in the indirect task, where 85% of participants showed an improved accuracy. This suggests that the way individuals are prompted to estimate portion sizes influences their approach and their reliance on the provided guidance. Higher error rates occurred when participants were more familiar with the products. For less familiar products, the lower portion estimation errors were associated with the longer fixations on the portion graphic in the indirect task. In addition, participants who quickly noticed the portion graphic provided more accurate portion size estimates. This emphasizes the practical importance of swiftly locating portion information on-pack to enhance estimation accuracy.

Reducing red meat intake is crucial for both planetary sustainability and human health. However, various psychosocial barriers impede this dietary shift, necessitating the application of psychological models such as the Theory of Planned behaviours (TPB) to predict individuals’ inclination to reduce red meat consumption. Despite TPB’s widespread use, there is a need for a more refined model addressing emotional variables. This study aims to assess TPB’s effectiveness in understanding intentions and behaviours regarding red meat reduction, while investigating food involvement’s role as a moderator between intention and behaviours. Data were collected through two questionnaires (n = 963, Time 1; n = 541, Time 2) filled out by a representative sample of the Italian population. Using descriptive statistics and structural equation models, findings reveal that attitudes and subjective norms explain 22.2 % of the variance in intentions to reduce red meat consumption. Additionally, perceived behavioural control and intention account for 39.7 % of the variance in self-reported meat consumption behaviours six months later. Moreover, high levels of food involvement hinder the translation of intention into behaviour, highlighting its moderating effect. These results emphasize the necessity of reshaping red meat reduction strategies and promoting alternative consumption choices, fostering habitual practices linked to positive emotions. It is crucial for reducing red meat consumption that this behaviour becomes a cultural symbol of change, identifying individuals as “new consumers” within a society adapting to environmental and health challenges. By integrating emotional factors into behavioural models, interventions can better address barriers and promote sustainable dietary habits.