Effect of Informed Conditions on Sensory Expectations and Actual Perceptions: A Case of Chocolate Brownies Containing Edible-Cricket Protein

Abstract

Currently, many consumers are reluctant to consume edible-cricket protein (ECP). Chocolate brownie (CB) formulations without (WO) and with (W) 6%w/w ECP (CBWO and CBW, respectively) were presented under two informed conditions: formulated without ECP (ECP−) and formulated with ECP+benefits (ECP+). CBWO− (CBWO presented with the “ECP−” claim), CBWO+ (CBWO presented with the “ECP+” claim), CBW− (CBW presented with the “ECP−” claim), and CBW+ (CBW presented with the “ECP+” claim) were evaluated by 210 consumers for expected and actual attribute liking, and after-tasting consumption and purchase intent. Multi-way ANOVA, principal component analysis, and agglomerative clustering examined liking. Cochran-Q tests compared actual-liking profiles, purchase and consumption intent. Before tasting, CBW− obtained the lowest appearance liking, flavor liking was higher for ECP− than for ECP+ for either formulation, and ECP+ decreased aroma and overall liking only for CBWO. After tasting, CBWO had higher liking than CBW (except for aroma) for either informed condition. Regardless of the formulation, ECP− and ECP+ had similar actual liking. Nevertheless, ECP+ prevented negative disconfirmation for both formulations while ECP− decreased texture liking (for CBWO) and all liking (for CBW) upon tasting. Females’ consumption intent was higher for CBWO regardless of the informed condition, but CBW+ achieved a similar purchase intent to CBWO− for both genders.

Exploring Text Mining for Recent Consumer and Sensory Studies about Alternative Proteins

“…Moreover, the words "willing" and "neophobia" had similar coefficients (0.37-0.38). It could be assumed that insect neophobia can affect the willingness of trying insect-based alternative proteins [27]. Several articles supported this finding.…”

“…Indeed, entomophagy is still considered a novel practice in Western cultures and "disgusting" was a commonly elicited emotion among participants when they were introduced to the concept of entomophagy [28,29]. Furthermore, insect-based bread has been considered disgusting by participants [19], and the disgust emotion has contributed to the rejection of entomophagy to a greater extent than food neophobia [27,30].…”

Effect of Disclosed Information on Product Liking, Emotional Profile, and Purchase Intent: A Case of Chocolate Brownies Containing Edible-Cricket Protein

“…"Satisfied" and "happy" after-tasting positive-valence emotions [33,80,84,85] and age [46,51] were critical for accurate PI prediction whereas expected and actual aroma liking, and appearance liking were critical PI predictors to obtain higher node purity. Although previous edible insect consumption [50,90], formulation [8,65], gender [8,50,52,61,79], disclosed information [8,28,57,83], after-tasting disgust [22,59] and worried were considered important for the PI prediction, the aforementioned variables were more critical to determine consumers' PI. Based on this model, the probability of purchase is higher for the consumer who is willing to consume the product upon tasting (CI = Yes), is Latino, has achieved or is pursuing a higher education degree, is satisfied and happy upon tasting, and is aged 18-29 years old.…”

“…For instance, edible insects can be produced with a higher feed-conversion efficiency, lower spending of environmental resources (e.g., water, land, feed), and less ecosystem pollution than conventional-source-derived proteins (including plant-based and livestock) [5]. Overall, edible insects have a high-quality nutritional profile, which depends on species, developmental stage, diet, sex, and processing among other variables [6][7][8]. Hence, functional ingredients could be obtained from their protein, fat, and chitin components.…”

“…Acceptable food products containing edible insect ingredients in bakery [8,[10][11][12][13][14][15], energy/protein bars [16], extruded snacks [17], pasta [18], and meat [19,20] categories have been reported. However, there is still a significant reluctance to consume edible insect food products mainly in western cultures, where entomophagy is not a common practice [21].…”