It has been widely noted that the introduction of insects in Westerns’ diet might be a promising path towards a more sustainable food consumption. However, Westerns’ are almost disgusted and sceptical about the eating of insects. In the current paper we report the results of an experiment conducted in two European countries—Denmark and Italy—different for food culture and familiarity with the topic of eating insects. We investigated the possibility to foster people's willingness to eat insect-based food through communication, also comparing messages based on individual vs. societal benefits of the eating of insects. Communication proved to be effective on intention and behaviour, and the societal message appeared to be more robust over time. The communication effect is significant across nation, gender, and previous knowledge about the topic. In addition, we investigated the impact of non-conscious negative associations with insects on the choice to eat vs. not eat insect-based food. Implicit attitudes proved to be a powerful factor in relation to behaviour, yet they did not impede the effectiveness of communication.

The effect of communication and implicit associations on consuming insects: An experiment in Denmark and Italy / Verneau, Fabio; LA BARBERA, Francesco; Kolle, Susanne; Amato, Mario; DEL GIUDICE, Teresa; Grunert, Klaus. - In: APPETITE. - ISSN 0195-6663. - 106:(2016), pp. 30-36. [10.1016/j.appet.2016.02.006]

The effect of communication and implicit associations on consuming insects: An experiment in Denmark and Italy

VERNEAU, FABIO;LA BARBERA, FRANCESCO;AMATO, MARIO;DEL GIUDICE, TERESA;
2016

Abstract

It has been widely noted that the introduction of insects in Westerns’ diet might be a promising path towards a more sustainable food consumption. However, Westerns’ are almost disgusted and sceptical about the eating of insects. In the current paper we report the results of an experiment conducted in two European countries—Denmark and Italy—different for food culture and familiarity with the topic of eating insects. We investigated the possibility to foster people's willingness to eat insect-based food through communication, also comparing messages based on individual vs. societal benefits of the eating of insects. Communication proved to be effective on intention and behaviour, and the societal message appeared to be more robust over time. The communication effect is significant across nation, gender, and previous knowledge about the topic. In addition, we investigated the impact of non-conscious negative associations with insects on the choice to eat vs. not eat insect-based food. Implicit attitudes proved to be a powerful factor in relation to behaviour, yet they did not impede the effectiveness of communication.
2016
The effect of communication and implicit associations on consuming insects: An experiment in Denmark and Italy / Verneau, Fabio; LA BARBERA, Francesco; Kolle, Susanne; Amato, Mario; DEL GIUDICE, Teresa; Grunert, Klaus. - In: APPETITE. - ISSN 0195-6663. - 106:(2016), pp. 30-36. [10.1016/j.appet.2016.02.006]
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
2016 Appetite.pdf

non disponibili

Tipologia: Documento in Pre-print
Licenza: Accesso privato/ristretto
Dimensione 323.02 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
323.02 kB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri   Richiedi una copia

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11588/632994
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? 31
  • Scopus 196
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 169
social impact