1,720,958 research outputs found
The role of visual attention on perception, valuation and choice of food products: eye tracking studies
No full textThis doctoral thesis investigates consumers' visual attention patterns and choices in the case of eco-labels commonly found in aquaculture products. Two laboratory studies have been conducted with Italian consumers of smoked/sea bass salmon. An integrated approach, combining qualita-tive and qualitative methods, has been used to explore consumers' preferences for eco-labels. More specifically, the role of top-down factors (related to consumers' characteristics, such as mo-tivation and attitudes) and bottom-up factors (related to the label's characteristics, such as size) on consumers' visual attention and choices have been explored. The first laboratory study examined whether consumers' attitudes towards environments and animal welfare influenced attentional capture and consumers' interest in eco-labels. The second study manipulated the size and saliency of the eco-labels to understand if attentional capture and consumers' interest in eco-labels would increase. In the case of this second study, a depth understanding was also searched through a semiotic analysis of the eco-labels. The finding shows that both top-down and bottom-up factors influence consumers' visual attention and choice. More specifically, Study 1 showed that attentional capture of the eco-labels was mainly guided by top-down factors such as consumers' interest in food naturalness, health concerns and the need for information. Saliency, a bottom-up factor, helps consumers maintain their interest in eco-labels. Indeed, the eco-labels with higher saliency are fixated for longer. Study 2 revealed that consumers' visual attention towards eco-labels could be enhanced by using bigger eco-labels with higher saliency. However, consumers' choices of aquaculture products were only determined by the size of the eco-labels. Hence, the aquaculture products carrying bigger eco-labels influence consumers' choices. Moreover, this thesis showed through a semiotic analysis that consumers preferred eco-labels with symbols (i.g., fish) and colours (blue) that intuitively made them think of aquaculture products
Social identity and intent to try cultured-meat: beyond locavorism and cultural openness
No full textPurpose – Despite the growing research on cultured meat, the psychological factors influencing consumer
behaviour are still underexplored. This study investigates how anticipated social identification, openness to
other cultures and locavorism shape behavioural intentions toward cultured meat. The findings aim to inform
strategies for promoting alternative proteins, especially in contexts where food identity plays a key role.
Design/methodology/approach – In December 2023, we fielded a nationwide online survey to a quotarepresentative
sample of 800 Italians (age, gender, region) recruited via a professional market-research panel, in
line with ESOMAR standards. The questionnaire measured attitudes toward cultured meat and examined how
social identification, openness to other cultures and locavorism relate to willingness to try (WTT), to eat
regularly and to substitute conventional meat.
Findings – Anticipated social identification with prospective cultured-meat consumers positively influences
three behavioural intentions: WTT, willingness to consume regularly and willingness to substitute farmed meat
with cultured meat. Openness to other cultures is positively associated with the willingness to consume cultured
meat regularly. In contrast, locavorism does not significantly influence behavioural intentions, suggesting that
local food preferences may not conflict with the acceptance of cultured meat.
Originality/value – This study advances the literature by jointly testing anticipated social identification,
locavorism and openness to other cultures, rarely examined together, in a meat-centric setting (Italy, 2023 ban).
We find stage-differentiated effects across WTT, eat regularly and substitute, clarifying psychological pathways
to acceptance. The results provide actionable guidance for policy and practice and a basis for future research on
food identity and innovation
Italian consumers and cultured meat: Risk, preferences, and politics
No full textCultured meat is produced in vitro, and it is presented as a method able to reduce the controversial effect of farmed meat, on the environment and animal welfare. To speed up the shift to sustainable food systems with such innovation, it is necessary to analyze consumer preferences and attitudes towards this novel food. Attention should be paid specifically to the relevant role of consumers’ political affiliation, risk attitudes, and perceptions of cultured meat, as compared to farmed meat, on consumers’ acceptance of this novel food. This study investigates these aspects using a representative sample of the Italian population in terms of gender, age, and region, and a balance across education levels. Data collection was conducted via a digital platform in December 2023. The sample included 800 participants. The data were analyzed using an ordered logistic regression model, with marginal effects reported for clarity. Results show that as the level of acceptance increases, consumers’ preferences depend heavily on their’ perceptions of cultured meat as compared to farmed meat. Our research offers valuable insights into consumers’ views related to cultured meat. Additionally, it provides practical guidance to promote cultured meat using an evidence-based strategy
Are They Careful Enough? Testing Consumers’ Perception of Alternative Processing Technologies on the Quality of Organic Food
Get PDFAbstract: Given the increasing public interest in how ingredients are processed and the growing
demand for organic food products, it is critical to understand consumers’ expectations about the
process-related quality of organic products. Consumers perceive organic food to be nutritious, healthy
and either natural or less processed, as they are afraid of the loss of nutritional, organoleptic and
sensory properties of the food products. However, alternative food processing technologies might
generate healthy and safe food options with nutritional quality properties. Simplified communication
schemes might help to overcome this barrier for the consumer. The main objective of this study is to
propose a working definition of “careful processing” for organic products and test its consistency
through an experiment, while being used to rate different processing methods by consumers. Results
show that the proposed definition allows the consumer to consistently rate alternative processing
technologies. Consumers tend to score alternative processing technologies such as pulsed electric
fields and microwaves as less careful, supporting the idea that organic consumers want as little
man-made interference in their food products as possible. Results show that a simple but effective
definition of careful processing may help consumers to distinguish more organic food products from
conventional ones, no matter which communication scheme is used
The Role of Eco-Labels in Making Environmentally Friendly Choices: An Eye-Tracking Study on Aquaculture Products with Italian Consumers
Get PDFEco-labels are crucial in helping consumers make sustainable food choices. However, previous literature has shown that eco-labels lack visibility and, frequently, are not easy for consumers to see. The main goal of the present study was to analyse the influence of aquaculture eco-labels’ visual elements—size and saliency—on consumers’ visual attention and choice. The study uses an eye-tracking methodology, together with a choice experiment and a semiotic analysis. A word association (WA) task was used to explore how each eco-label’s graphic design influenced consumers’ perceptions. Sixty-one consumers’ eye movements were tracked while choosing smoked salmon and seabass products carrying different eco-labels. The results showed that size and saliency largely influence visual attention. The choice of aquaculture products was influenced only by the size of the eco-labels. According to the WA task, the shape, the symbols and the language in which the claim was written influenced consumers’ preferences. The findings contribute to marketing and food research, suggesting which visual elements should be considered to increase consumers’ interest in eco-labels
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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