The effects of consumer knowledge on the willingness to buy insect food: An exploratory cross-regional study in Northern and Central Europe

Piha, Samuel; Pohjanheimo, Terhi; Lahteenmäki‐Uutela, Anu; Kreckova, Zuzana; Otterbring, Tobias

doi:10.1016/j.foodqual.2016.12.006

Cited by 161 publications

(184 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…This positive attitude may be related to the strength and characteristics of each food culture. Some studies blame culinary maturity in Western cultures for their negative attitude toward consuming insects (Piha, Pohjanheimo, Lähteenmäki-Uutela, Křečková, & Otterbring, 2018). However, this point is not clear enough.…”

Section: Food Neophobia and Aversion To Insect Consumptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Edible Insects Processing: Traditional and Innovative Technologies

Melgar‐Lalanne

Hernández-Álvarez

Fiallos

2019

Comp Rev Food Sci Food Safe

281

216

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Insects are part of the human diet in many parts of the world. Their nutritional value is widely recognized. Currently, most edible insects are harvested from the wild, although semi‐domestication and indoor farming have increased insect availability and the sustainability of production. In traditional cultures, insects are processed in a number of ways (steaming, roasting, smoking, frying, stewing, and curing, among others) to improve their sensory and nutritional qualities as well as their shelf‐life. In order to increase consumer interest in the West, various technologies have been developed that are aimed primarily at using insects as ingredients in a non‐recognizable form, such as powders or flour. These technologies include drying (sun‐drying, freeze‐drying, oven‐drying, fluidized bed drying, and microwave‐drying) and new processing methods (ultrasound‐assisted extraction, cold atmospheric pressure plasma, and dry fractionation) designed mainly for protein, fat, and/or chitin extraction. Insect‐based ingredients are sold for the production of cookies, chocolates, tortilla‐style chips, and other snacks. This review focuses on edible insect production, processing technologies, and commercialization using strategies ranging from traditional to novel as a sustainable approach for improving food security worldwide.

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Section: Food Neophobia and Aversion To Insect Consumptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Edible Insects Processing: Traditional and Innovative Technologies

Melgar‐Lalanne

Hernández-Álvarez

Fiallos

2019

Comp Rev Food Sci Food Safe

281

216

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“…So far, the six approaches (aquaponics, rooftop greenhouses, vertical farming, indoor farming, algae production and edible insects) have mainly been considered individually: Questions of acceptability have been studied for edible insects and seaweed consumption to explore consumers' willingness to include those foods into their diets [41][42][43][44][45]. Food neophobia and low familiarity with eating insects were identified as barriers for the adoption of insects as a meat substitute in Western societies [45].…”

Section: Research Gapmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While algae and edible insects are already an established part of diets elsewhere in the world, they face food neophobia or aversion in Western countries [33,45,86]. Piha et al [42] found that educational strategies, such as improving consumers' knowledge, creates higher acceptance for edible insects in Northern Europe, where entomophagy is not common.…”

Section: Factors Related To the Food Productsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How Will We Eat and Produce in the Cities of the Future? From Edible Insects to Vertical Farming—A Study on the Perception and Acceptability of New Approaches

et al. 2019

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Global challenges such as climate change, increasing urbanization and a lack of transparency of food chains, have led to the development of innovative urban food production approaches, such as rooftop greenhouses, vertical farms, indoor farms, aquaponics as well as production sites for edible insects or micro-algae. Those approaches are still at an early stage of development and partly unknown among the public. The aim of our study was to identify the perception of sustainability, social acceptability and ethical aspects of these new approaches and products in urban food production. We conducted 19 qualitative expert interviews and applied qualitative content analysis. Our results revealed that major perceived benefits are educational effects, revaluation of city districts, efficient resource use, exploitation of new protein sources or strengthening of local economies. Major perceived conflicts concern negative side-effects, legal constraints or high investment costs. The extracted acceptance factors deal significantly with the "unknown". A lack of understanding of the new approaches, uncertainty about their benefits, concerns about health risks, a lack of familiarity with the food products, and ethical doubts about animal welfare represent possible barriers. We conclude that adaptation of the unsuitable regulatory framework, which discourages investors, is an important first step to foster dissemination of the urban food production approaches.

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“…The edible insect industry seems to have a complete and well-established supply chain and trade channels [9]. While many studies have been done focusing on consumers in Europe and the US [3,[10][11][12], little is known about factors influencing Chinese consumer purchase and consumption decisions towards edible insects. To fill this gap, we surveyed 614 Chinese consumers from Beijing (Northern China) and Nanjing (Southern China) to examine the factors influencing their purchase and consumption decisions towards edible insects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Influencing Consumption of Edible Insects for Chinese Consumers

Liu

Gómez

2019

Insects

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Edible insects are often considered a healthier and more sustainable meat substitute and protein source. Many studies have examined factors affecting the consumption behavior towards edible insects among Western consumers. However, little is known about factors influencing consumer behavior towards edible insects in Asian countries even though Asians have a long history of consuming insects. In this study, we surveyed 614 Chinese consumers from Beijing and Nanjing to examine the factors influencing their consumption and purchase behavior of edible insects. We find that insect phobia, feelings of disgust, knowledge level, and social demographic factors such as age, household size, household income and region (Northern or Southern China) are the main factors influencing purchase decisions. In addition, the results indicate that the perceived positive attributes associated with edible insects, the preferences of children in the household, as well as age and knowledge level have positive impacts on consumption frequency. On the other hand, concerns of food safety and the shape of the insects have negative impacts on consumption frequency. Finally, the results suggest that educating consumers to increase knowledge of edible insects increases their probability to purchase insect foods.

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The effects of consumer knowledge on the willingness to buy insect food: An exploratory cross-regional study in Northern and Central Europe

Cited by 161 publications

References 51 publications

Edible Insects Processing: Traditional and Innovative Technologies

Edible Insects Processing: Traditional and Innovative Technologies

How Will We Eat and Produce in the Cities of the Future? From Edible Insects to Vertical Farming—A Study on the Perception and Acceptability of New Approaches

Factors Influencing Consumption of Edible Insects for Chinese Consumers

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