Between attraction and aversion: How designers can use the concept of disgust to influence food consumption

Abstract

Disgust is a strong emotion of aversion. In the context of food, it is often referred to as a guardian of the mouth, preventing close contact with pathogens and the accidental consumption of poisons. However, disgust can also create a certain level of attraction and be part of positive experiences, even in the context of food. In this article, we discuss different ways of using disgust to influence eating behaviour and contribute to healthier food consumption. We outline ten different bridging concepts accompanied by various design exemplars on how to use disgust in the context of critical food design. In addition, we present four different lenses that can help to refine the design concepts.

Exploring the Role of Shame in Design Strategies

“…Seeing that shame can both be added and removed in different contexts to both create aversion and attraction, experimenting with these mechanisms in different contexts could be a fruitful way to start exploring this emotion in a more designerly way. As with the disgust study by Lemke et al (2021), shame has the same tendency to carry connotations to specific domains, as well as juxtapose personal desires with social taboos. Topics such as sexuality, food, body, religion, age, language, hygiene, wealth, death, race and gender, all have had a long tradition of carrying social rules that, when broken, can cause shame and embarrassment.…”

“…Their approach also considers other related emotions such as maliciousness, pride, indignation and disgust, as well as a protective frame that reverses the negative emotion so that it can be enjoyable for the user. Lemke et al (2021) explores the concept of emotional nuances and how disgust can be used in different ways to prompt attitudes of aversion and attraction. Guilty pleasures are a quite commonly used term for describing something pleasurable that induces a feeling of guilt, such as indulging yourself with junk food, binge watching Netflix, consuming reality television or enjoying poorly rated music or trashy art.…”

Design and Implementation of Snack Food Business

“…In doing this business, of course, also partner with other external parties. Partners in this business are suppliers of raw materials, owners of snack or souvenir shops in the city of Pati and consumers (Lemke, Boon, & Schifferstein, 2021).…”