Effects of other people's facial emotional expression on consumers’ perceptions of chocolate chip cookies containing cricket protein

Abstract

Edible insects are recognized as a potential alternative and sustainable source of high-quality protein for the human diet. Entomophagy is highly related to negative emotions that may cause reluctance to adopt insects as food in Western countries. During human interaction, a person's facial emotional expression (FEE) may influence other people's emotional responses. A person's emotional state may affect his/her food preference and food choice. Understanding how other people's FEE would affect consumers' emotional profiles, liking, and subsequent willingness to try (WTT) and purchase intent (PI) toward insectcontaining food products may help increase the acceptance of entomophagy. This study identified emotional responses toward chocolate chip cookies containing cricket protein using valence and arousal scales in order to explore the effects of other people's FEE (positive, negative, and/or sensation seeking) and to find the correlation between consumers' emotional and overall liking (OL) responses for cricket-containing chocolate chip cookies. Predicting PI for such cookies was also performed. For consumers who perceived positive emotion from other people's FEE after watching a short video clip, their emotional feeling was raised on both valence and arousal dimensions, while negative FEE stimulus imparted the opposite effects. The OL scores and emotional intensities after watching the three FEE videos were highly related to consumers' PI. Males compared to females rated the cricket-containing cookies higher on positive emotion intensity, OL, and PI. Among the three FEEs evaluated, the positive emotional stimulus would be beneficial in increasing acceptance, WTT, and PI of insect-containing foods.Abbreviations: AfterV, after watching facial emotional expression video before tasting the cookie; CATA, check-all-that-apply; FEE, facial emotional expressions; ICookie, cookie containing cricket protein; ICookie_BEI, informing consumers of benefits of entomophagy; ICookie_Info, informing consumers that cookie contained cricket protein; NICookie, cookie without cricket protein; OL, overall liking; PI, purchase intent; SAM, Self-Assessment Manikin; SSK, sensation-seeking; V n1 , video of negative facial emotional expressions; V n2 , video of negative facial emotional expressions when consuming cookie; V nr , video of negative facial emotional expressions when consuming cookie and participants were informed that cookies in the video contained cricket protein; V p1 , video of positive facial emotional expressions; V p2 , video of positive facial emotional expressions when consuming cookie; V pr , video of positive facial emotional expressions when consuming cookie and participants were informed that cookies in the video contained cricket protein; V s1 , video of sensation-seeking facial emotional expressions; V s2 , video of sensation-seeking facial emotional expressions when consuming cookie; V sr , video of sensation-seeking facial emotional expressions when consuming cookie and participants were informed that cookies in ...

Consumers’ Acceptance, Emotions, and Responsiveness to Informational Cues for Air-Fried Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) Skin Chips

“…Interestingly, emotion measurement revealed significantly higher states of adventurous and energetic feeling regarding consumption of LP compared to plain CSC. Drivers of consumer food choice are diverse, but by investigating both intrinsic sensory quality and extrinsic product information along with evoked emotions [ 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ], further consideration of BBQ and LP CSC as a viable utilization of catfish skin seems warranted.…”

The Impact of Information Presentation on Consumer Perceptions of Cricket-Containing Chocolate Chip Cookies

“…The chocolate chip cookies (CCCs) were made following the recipe outlined by Gao et al [3]. The ingredients for CCCs included Great Value ® wheat flour (Bentonville, AR, USA), unsalted butter from Land O'Lakes, Inc. (Arden Hills, MN, USA), chocolate chips from Nestle Toll House ® (Solon, OH, USA), sugar from Great Value ® (Bentonville, AR, USA), cricket flour (Acheta domestica) sourced from Thailand Unique (Udon Thani, Thailand), vanilla extract by McCormick & CO., Inc. (Hunt Valley, MD, USA), Morton salt (Chicago, IL, USA), and whey protein from Grande Custom Ingredients Group (Lomira, WI, USA).…”

“…Despite the potential benefits of sustainable nutrition, the reluctance of Western consumers to adopt entomophagy (consumption of insects) is well documented [1][2][3]. Edible insects encompass multiple species with various nutritional profiles and have been touted for complete protein, desirable fatty acid profiles, micronutrients, and bioactive compounds [4].…”

“…For non-neophobic individuals, reluctance to eat insects may be more related to the perceived inappropriateness of consuming insects as food based on cultural conditioning, rather than pure novelty/unfamiliarity [2]. Among those consumers who are willing to try entomophagy, there have been associations with adventurousness and other sensation-seeking traits [3], which encourage new eating experiences [2].…”

Advances in sensory science: From perception to consumer acceptance

“…Various methods measuring emotional reactions to foods were elaborately discussed by Mastinu et al (2023). One study evaluated emoji meanings (pleasure-arousal-dominance dimensions) in consumer research across different countries and consumers with interpersonal differences (Schouteten et al, 2023), and another one evaluated effects of other people's facial emotional expression on consumers' perceptions (emotion, liking, and purchase intent) of cricket-containing cookies (Gao et al, 2023). Neuromarketing is a relatively new market research subdiscipline used to understand consumer behavior related to choices/preferences and purchase.…”