The ethical and environmental rhetoric employed by institutions and companies to foster insect-based food consumption neglects individualistic motives that can prompt consumers to buy this novel food. To fill this gap, this paper reports a study in which consumers’ hedonic and utilitarian motives and the relative consumer profiles for insect-based food consumption were investigated. Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behavior, the study collected data from 929 participants and applied a structural equation modeling analysis to evaluate the moderating effect produced by hedonic and utilitarian motives on the intention to consume insect-based food. Based on the same dataset, then performed was a cluster analysis to define the profile of consumers according to the level of acceptance of insect-based food. The results indicated that hedonic motives have a positive impact on consumers' intention to consume insect-based food, while utilitarian-ethical and utilitarian-health motives have no and a negative impact, respectively. These findings suggest that promoting the hedonic aspects of insect-based foods would be more effective in increasing consumer acceptance than emphasizing only ethical and health utilitarian values; and they also highlight the importance of creating an emotional and experiential connection with consumers in order to improve the effectiveness of marketing efforts.

(2024). Insect-based food consumption: Hedonic or utilitarian motives? Moderation and segmentation analyses [journal article - articolo]. In FOOD QUALITY AND PREFERENCE. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10446/269909

Insect-based food consumption: Hedonic or utilitarian motives? Moderation and segmentation analyses

Valesi, Riccardo;Andreini, Daniela;Pedeliento, Giuseppe
2024-04-18

Abstract

The ethical and environmental rhetoric employed by institutions and companies to foster insect-based food consumption neglects individualistic motives that can prompt consumers to buy this novel food. To fill this gap, this paper reports a study in which consumers’ hedonic and utilitarian motives and the relative consumer profiles for insect-based food consumption were investigated. Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behavior, the study collected data from 929 participants and applied a structural equation modeling analysis to evaluate the moderating effect produced by hedonic and utilitarian motives on the intention to consume insect-based food. Based on the same dataset, then performed was a cluster analysis to define the profile of consumers according to the level of acceptance of insect-based food. The results indicated that hedonic motives have a positive impact on consumers' intention to consume insect-based food, while utilitarian-ethical and utilitarian-health motives have no and a negative impact, respectively. These findings suggest that promoting the hedonic aspects of insect-based foods would be more effective in increasing consumer acceptance than emphasizing only ethical and health utilitarian values; and they also highlight the importance of creating an emotional and experiential connection with consumers in order to improve the effectiveness of marketing efforts.
articolo
18-apr-2024
Valesi, Riccardo; Andreini, Daniela; Pedeliento, Giuseppe
(2024). Insect-based food consumption: Hedonic or utilitarian motives? Moderation and segmentation analyses [journal article - articolo]. In FOOD QUALITY AND PREFERENCE. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10446/269909
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10446/269909
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