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Over time, meat has acquired a central place in French gastronomy. The role played by plant-based proteins, such as pulses, is less clear. In order to better understand it, this study seeks to identify how French non-vegetarian consumers structure their main dish, using an indirect approach. A total of 120 participants had to compose dishes, following six different scenarios, by selecting three images of food items out of the twenty proposed. Results provided information about: (1) the first food product chosen, and (2) how foods from different food-groups were associated. Our results indicated that (1) French non-vegetarian consumers generally constructed their main dishes using animalbased food products first. Some differences were nevertheless identified, in relation to the scenario presented, and the profile of the participants. Results also showed that (2) the food-groups most often associated within a dish were Meat, Starch, and Vegetable. The Pulse group, when used, was in general associated with the Meat and Vegetable foodgroups. These findings provide new evidence of the structure of the French main dish. They also highlight possible levers that could be used to promote pulses to French consumers.

Pulses present many advantages for human health, nutrition, sustainability, and the environment. Despite efforts in recent years by the pulse industry and national authorities to favor pulses, consumption in France remains relatively low, at 1.7 kg/per person in 2016, compared to 1920 when it was around 7.2 kg/per person. To understand social representations of pulses in France, 80 French nonvegetarian consumers and 35 professionals from the pulse industry were asked to say five words spontaneously evoked by the inductor “pulses”. They then had to rank these five words in order of importance and rate their valence. The structural approach was used to analyze social representations for each group independently. Our results highlight differences in the structure and content of social representations for pulses. Consumer responses suggested only vague impressions of pulses, but taste evocations were nevertheless rated positively. By contrast, professionals tended to focus specifically on protein content and culinary preparation. These differences could explain some barriers to pulse consumption, and improved communication should be a key target. Efficient communication must consider the concepts most frequently used by consumers when referring to pulses, and those ranked as most important.

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Despite numerous health and environmental benefits, the consumption of pulses (i.e. lentils, chickpeas … ) in France has decreased over the past few decades. One potential barrier to pulse consumption may be their shelf placement in French supermarkets. We studied gaze behavior toward pulses in a virtual supermarket. Products from four food categories (animal-based, pulses, starches, and vegetables) were randomly presented on four shelves (canned, dried, ready-to-eat, and refrigerated). Then, a composite super-shelf combined the canned, dried, and refrigerated shelves. Gaze behavior was recorded for the 108 participants in two screening phases: i) the four shelves one-by-one, ii) the super-shelf. Pulses were not strong “eye-catchers”: gaze behavior toward pulses varied from shelf to shelf. Similarly, visual attention was different for each food-group during super-shelf screening. These results could be used to implement specific strategies that should be developed in supermarkets to encourage the choice of pulses by consumers, and thus increase pulse consumption.

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Research into consumer attitudes toward food products is important to help people adopt healthier, more sustainable diets. A positive attitude regarding an object is a prerequisite for its adoption. This study compares French consumers’ implicit attitudes toward pulses and cereals. Many studies have measured attitudes by explicit methodologies (e.g., questionnaires). Such methods are often biased by social desirability, and consumers may not be consciously aware of their attitudes toward food. A Sorting Paired Feature Task measures the strength of automatic associations, pairing images of pulses or cereals and adjectives with positive or negative valence. Participants sorted 192 paired stimuli as fast as possible. Pairs composed of pulses and negative adjectives were sorted faster than pairs composed of cereals and negative adjectives. Cereals with positive adjectives were sorted more rapidly than pulses with positive adjectives. Mistaken associations were more frequent for pairs composed of cereals and negative adjectives than for pairs composed of pulses and negative adjectives. These results highlight more negative implicit attitudes toward pulses than cereals. This study provides the first potential evidence of negative implicit attitudes toward pulses, which could explain the low consumption of these products.