Edible Insects as Sustainable Food – Eye-Tracking and Behavioral Studies of Consumer Decision-Making
Project number: 26/PREIDUB/JUNIOR/2024
Project summary: The aim of the study is to identify eye-tracking and behavioral correlates of consumer behavior in purchase and/or consumption decisions regarding products containing edible insects. Within the project, factors determining the acceptance of edible insects by consumers in Poland will be examined from the perspective of the sustainable development concept (sustainable food).
The specific objectives include:
1. Examining consumer responses in terms of eye movements and galvanic skin response (GSR) to consumer experiences related to products based on edible insects.
2. Investigating psychosocial correlates related to the choice and consumption of edible insects, including food neophobia.
3. Studying consumer preferences regarding the consumption of products based on edible insects.
An important aspect of the experimental research is determining how communication with consumers regulates the level of acceptance of consuming products containing edible insects as a food ingredient.
The study is conducted in the faculty laboratory Agri-Food Economics Experimental Laboratory (A-FEEL), located in Collegium Maximum (room 812) at the Faculty of Economics.
Psychophysiological methods are used in the study, enabling non-invasive measurement of eye movements to observe visual fixation points on selected areas of the offer (eye-tracker). The task of participants is to indicate factors that determine their acceptance of consuming products based on edible insects.
The research results identifying factors that influence consumers’ willingness to consume insects, as well as determining the importance of communication strategies with consumers, will enable entities selling products containing edible insects to build a stable market position by developing effective marketing strategies. These strategies will facilitate the creation of effective incentives encouraging consumers to purchase insect-based products, based on substantive premises.
Furthermore, the results obtained within the grant may be used by entities involved in food product design and packaging label design for products based on edible insects. One of the planned outcomes is to determine how the type of narrative and the type of presented graphics influence consumer acceptance of products based on edible insects. The obtained research results will enable such entities to adjust labels of insect-based products to the level of consumer acceptance.
Start date: 1 October 2024
End date: 31 December 2026
Name of the call, program or initiative: PREIDUB – Strategy of the Poznań University of Life Sciences for 2024–2026 aimed at improving scientific research and development activities in priority research areas, as well as analyses oriented toward developing objectives and assumptions for the university’s long-term development plan in preparation for participation in the next call within the IDUB program.
Funding: Poznań University of Life Sciences Amount of funding awarded: PLN 24,600.00
Implementation: Behavioral Economics Laboratory (A-FEEL – Agri-Food Economics Experimental Laboratory), Faculty of Economics, Poznań University of Life Sciences
