Disgusting or delicious? Examining attitudinal ambivalence towards entomophagy among Danish consumers

Videbæk, Pernille Nørgaard; Grunert, Klaus G.

doi:10.1016/j.foodqual.2020.103913

Cited by 73 publications

(79 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…The current use of insects as feed could potentially affect how consumers perceive insects in human nutrition. This could be an obstacle to greater acceptance of edible insects on the market (Videbæka & Grunerta, 2020). Further studies on this topic are required.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, recent studies found that food neophobia is no longer the key barrier to insect consumption (Fischer & Steenbekkers, 2018; Schlup & Brunner, 2018). As edible insects are becoming more familiar to the consumers, as they see them in supermarkets or hear about them in the news, the food neophobia could be replaced by an interest in the products instead (Videbæk & Grunert, 2020). Perhaps, nowadays, a better determining factor for edible insect acceptance may be the information that consumers have or receive about the benefits of eating such food.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Consumer acceptance among Dutch and German students of insects in feed and food

Naranjo-Guevara

Fanter

Conconi

et al. 2020

Food Science & Nutrition

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Due to the environmental and nutritional benefits of insects, their consumption would be one of the solutions to feed the growing human population. Despite the increasing interest in the use of insects as food and feed, consumer acceptance is the major obstacle to successful implementation in Western countries and we studied the factors that influence consumer acceptance in a group of university students from Germany and the Netherlands. In this exploratory research, a survey was conducted (n = 222). Socio‐demographic and psychological factors were established from a theoretical review. In addition, we elaborated on questions regarding information on the health and environmental benefits of consuming insects. Initially, the data obtained are presented through descriptive statistics. The influence of the socio‐demographic and psychological factors, and the information on the willingness to accept insects as animal feed and human food was analyzed using correlations and multiple linear regressions. Results showed more willingness to accept insects as animal feed than in human food. The acceptance among German and Dutch students seems to be driven by issues similar to those in other European countries, such as visual aspects and knowledge about the benefits. The effect of the information on willingness constitutes an important finding of this study, especially for the use of insects in animal feed, since most of the previous studies have focused on the use of insects as human food. Our data support the need to inform and educate consumers about the environmental and health benefits of entomophagy. We conclude that effective efforts to implement entomophagy could increase the level of familiarity with the insect food and inform (or educate) consumers about its benefits. Insights from this study are useful to address studies focusing on specific segments of possible early adopters and consequently addressing communication strategies in this market segmentation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consumer acceptance among Dutch and German students of insects in feed and food

Naranjo-Guevara

Fanter

Conconi

et al. 2020

Food Science & Nutrition

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“…In fact, Van Thielen et al [ 184 ] reported an increasing positive response in Belgium regarding acceptance, as revealed by a survey undertaken two years after the introduction of edible insects in that country. In a similar survey of Danish consumers revealed the fact that 23% of them were willing to eat insects [ 185 ].…”

Section: Impact Of Insect Quality On Consumers’ Preference and Acceptabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemical Composition, Nutrient Quality and Acceptability of Edible Insects Are Affected by Species, Developmental Stage, Gender, Diet, and Processing Method

Meyer-Rochow

Gahukar²,

Ghosh

et al. 2021

Foods

151

116

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Edible insects have been considered as either nutritious food itemsper se, or as wholesome ingredients to various dishes and components of traditional subsistence. Protein, fat, mineral and vitamin contents in insects generally satisfy the requirements of healthy food, although there is considerable variation associated with insect species, collection site, processing method, insect life stage, rearing technology and insect feed. A comparison of available data (based on dry weight) showed that processing can improve the nutrient content, taste, flavour, appearance and palatability of insects, but that there are additional factors, which can impact the content and composition of insect species that have been recommended for consumption by humans. This review focuses on factors that have received little attention in connection with the task to improve acceptability or choice of edible insects and suggests ways to guarantee food security in countries where deficiencies in protein and minerals are an acute and perpetual problem. This review is meant to assist the food industry to select the most suitable species as well as processing methods for insect-based food products.

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“…More specifically, the EAQ measures attitudes towards either direct entomophagy (i.e., eating food containing insect-based ingredients) and indirect entomophagy (i.e., eating food derived from animals reared using insect-based feed). The EAQ has been translated and cross-validated in several languages, and administered in Western and non-Western countries [ 21 , 22 ]. These studies show an overall negative attitude towards direct entomophagy, whereas the attitude towards indirect entomophagy seems to be better in all geographical and social contexts investigated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived Risk of Insect-Based Foods: An Assessment of the Entomophagy Attitude Questionnaire Predictive Validity

Amato

Fasanelli

Verneau

2021

Insects

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Insects are a promising alternative protein source and their possible integration in the human diet has been extensively studied, also with reference to the degree of consumer acceptability and the main factors determining reluctance among Western consumers. Several studies have also proposed the use of protein meals derived from insects in animal feed as a possible way to promote the development of the insect chain. Consumer attitudes, perceived risks, and intention to eat insect-based foods have been extensively researched, yet the relationships between those factors are still unclear. On a sample of 202 Italian consumers, the present research used the Entomophagy Attitude Questionnaire (EAQ) to analyse the degree of acceptability of insects as food and meat obtained from animals raised on insect-based feeds with a specific focus on the role of attitudes and perceived risk. The research also evaluated the differences in acceptability between different types of animals fed with insects. The results show that the intention to engage in entomophagy is significantly correlated with all three of the EAQ’s subscales, as well as with perceived risk. However, the effect of perceived risk does not significantly improve the predictive validity of EAQ with respect to the intention to eat insect-based food. The results also show that the degree of acceptability for different insect meal-reared animals changes among consumers: beef and pork are characterized by a lower degree of acceptability, while poultry and fish are more accepted by consumers.

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Disgusting or delicious? Examining attitudinal ambivalence towards entomophagy among Danish consumers

Cited by 73 publications

References 40 publications

Consumer acceptance among Dutch and German students of insects in feed and food

Consumer acceptance among Dutch and German students of insects in feed and food

Chemical Composition, Nutrient Quality and Acceptability of Edible Insects Are Affected by Species, Developmental Stage, Gender, Diet, and Processing Method

Perceived Risk of Insect-Based Foods: An Assessment of the Entomophagy Attitude Questionnaire Predictive Validity

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