Sensory Drivers of Consumer Acceptance, Purchase Intent and Emotions toward Brewed Black Coffee

The link between coffee aroma/flavor and elicited emotions remains underexplored. This research identified key sensory characteristics of brewed black coffee that affected acceptance, purchase intent and emotions for Thai consumers. Eight Arabica coffee samples were evaluated by eight trained descriptive panelists for intensities of 26 sensory attributes and by 100 brewed black coffee users for acceptance, purchase intent and emotions. Results showed that the samples exhibited a wide range of sensory characteristics, and large differences were mainly described by the attributes coffee identity (coffee ID), roasted, bitter taste, balance/blended and fullness. Differences also existed among the samples for overall liking, purchase intent and most emotion terms. Partial least square regression analysis revealed that liking, purchase intent and positive emotions, such as active, alert, awake, energetic, enthusiastic, feel good, happy, jump start, impressed, pleased, refreshed and vigorous were driven by coffee ID, roasted, ashy, pipe tobacco, bitter taste, rubber, overall sweet, balanced/blended, fullness and longevity. Contrarily, sour aromatic, sour taste, fruity, woody, musty/earthy, musty/dusty and molasses decreased liking, purchase intent and positive emotions, and stimulated negative emotions, such as disappointed, grouchy and unfulfilled. This information could be useful for creating or modifying the sensory profile of brewed black coffee to increase consumer acceptance.

Artificial intelligence, financial anxiety and cashier-less checkouts: a Saudi Arabian perspective

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the impact of financial anxiety and convenience on the relation between cashier-less versus traditional checkouts and purchase intentions among Saudi Arabian consumers.Design/methodology/approachIn an online experiment, 329 Saudi participants were randomly assigned to one of two checkout conditions (traditional vs. AI-enabled) in a between-subjects design and indicated their financial anxiety. Through moderation-of-process design, the authors examine and showcase that the effect of convenience leads to higher purchase intent for AI-enabled checkouts. Moreover, the authors examine financial anxiety as an underlying mechanism and show that for high-convenience consumers, this enacts higher purchase intent.FindingsThe effect of AI-enabled checkouts depends on consumers' convenience perception. High-convenience consumers prefer AI-enabled checkouts over traditional ones, whereas low-convenience consumers are indifferent. Based on the Roy adaptation model theoretical framework, this occurs because high-convenience consumers experience greater financial anxiety when using AI-enabled checkouts, which in turn leads to higher purchase intent.Originality/valueTo the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore the reactions of Saudi Arabian consumers toward cashier-less stores versus traditional stores. Interestingly, their intent to purchase increases, due to the financial anxiety they experience while encountering AI-enabled transactions. Due to the limited research of retailers going cashier less, little is known about consumer reactions and how they may differ culturally.

INFLUENCE OF DIGITAL MEDIA MARKETING AND CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT ON CONSUMER PURCHASE INTENTION

Digital media marketing and celebrity endorsement have a significant impact on consumer purchase intent. The digital media marketing tools give marketers a competitive advantage in influencing customers and driving purchase intent toward their offerings. The study aims to examine the effectiveness of digital media as well as the impact of celebrity endorsements on consumer purchase intentions. The purposive sampling technique was used to collect responses from 523 residents of the tri-city Chandigarh using a structured questionnaire. The findings advocate that celebrity endorsement is a substantial marketing tool for driving consumer purchase intention via digital media platforms. The indirect effect of celebrity endorsement on consumer purchase intention was also significant when digital marketing media was used as a meditating variable. The data analysis and validation of the conceptual framework were carried out using the PLS-SEM. The study's implications are discussed.

Properties of tofu coagulated with Cardoon flower (Cynara Cardunculus L.)

Tofu was elaborated using water-soluble extract of soybean grains from the cultivar BRS 267 with cardoon flower (C. Cardunculus L.), as coagulant as an alternative to the traditional coagulant magnesium chloride. The tofu were evaluated in relation to physical, chemical, microbiological and sensory properties during 14 days. Was obsersed for the tofu coagulated with cardoon flower that the moisture, pH, total mineral, protein, and syneresis decreased with the storage, while Kunitz Trypsin Inhibitor, ureatic activity and phytic acid did not change. It was also obtained a positive effect for color (L*, a*) parameters, phytic acid, yield, syneresis, and acceptance. The textural properties, showed a tendency to increase of hardness and stickiness, while springiness and cohesiveness decreased during storage. Structurally, presented irregular-shaped, small pores or cavities. The sensory analysis, showed has great acceptance and purchase intent. Then, the cardoon flower can be used as vegetal coagulant improving the quality properties of tofu, in relation to magnesium chloride.

EXPRESS: The Bulletproof Glass Effect: Unintended Consequences of Privacy Notices

Drawing from a content analysis of publicly-traded companies’ privacy notices, a survey of managers, a field study, and five online experiments, this research investigates how consumers respond to privacy notices. A privacy notice, by placing legally-enforceable limits on a firm’s data practices, communicating safeguards, and signaling transparency, might be expected to promote confidence that personal data will not be misused. Indeed, most managers expected a privacy notice to make customers feel more secure (Study 1). Yet, consistent with the analogy that bulletproof glass can increase feelings of vulnerability despite the protection offered, formal privacy notices undermined consumer trust and decreased purchase interest even when they emphasized objective protection (Studies 2, 3, and 5) or omitted any mention of potentially concerning data practices (Study 6). These unintended consequences did not occur, however, when consumers had an a priori reason to be distrustful (Study 4) or when benevolence cues were added to privacy notices (Studies 5-6). Finally, Study 7 showed that both the presence and conspicuous absence of privacy information are sufficient to trigger decreased purchase intent. Together, these results provide actionable guidance to managers on how to effectively convey privacy information (without hurting purchase interest).

Do Consumers Want Seaweed in Their Food? A Study Evaluating Emotional Responses to Foods Containing Seaweed

Seaweeds are nutrient-dense marine organisms that have been proposed as a key ingredient to produce new functional foods. This study’s first objective was to identify consumers’ emotional responses and purchase intent towards a variety of food products containing seaweed. The secondary objective was to evaluate how hunger status and lifestyle affect consumers’ emotional responses. Participants (n = 108) were asked to evaluate pictures of different food items containing seaweed (beef burger, cheddar cheese, fettuccine, fish filet, sausage, bread, yogurt, and dried seaweed) using the CATA variant of EsSense25 Profile® and a purchase-intent scale. The consumers also answered questions about their hunger status, food neophobia, food-related lifestyle, as well as open-ended comment questions about seaweed. Participants’ purchase-intent scores were highest for bread and dried seaweed, which they associated with positive emotions. The participants disliked yogurt and sausage, indicating that they were disgusted with them. Participants believed seaweed could be added to fish, savoury, and cereal grains-based foods. The participants’ hunger status as well as their food neophobia and lifestyle impacted their emotional responses. Future research should continue to investigate how emotions affect purchase intent, how participant’s hunger status affects their emotions, and how participants’ lifestyle changes how they perceive new food products.

Sacrifice for (not) buying: how to measure sacrifice in the consumer context

This paper describes what the sacrifice is for consumption and proposes a scale to measure the sacrifice for (not) buying products. A multimethod approach was applied to achieve the proposed objectives. Initially, three qualitative studies were carried out (two focus groups and one interview with experts). Then, three quantitative studies were conducted (two online and a survey), and finally, two factorial experiments, 2x2 were developed. The act of sacrifice was understood as an exchange process in which some kind of benefit is sought, a fact that also consolidates the definition of sacrifice presented as the willingness to give up something that has value (monetary or not) in order to obtain some benefit (emotional and/or material) of greater importance. Furthermore, the existence of positive and negative elements in the sacrifice for (not) buying products, described as valence and instrumentality, respectively, was identified. It was also found that different levels of valence and instrumentality affect purchase intent. The elements that comprise the sacrifice for (not) buying products were presented, highlighting a definition that can reduce the doubts about what sacrifice is in the context of consumption, as well as how to measure it.

Just a little bit more legumes! Results of an online survey in Europe

A web survey was conducted in France, Germany, Poland, and the UK to examine how providing information about the benefits of legumes could influence purchase intent. In each country, 600 participants were recruited in September 2020. First, participants answered a series of questions about their dietary habits. Second, they were asked about their intention to purchase lentils, before and after they read an informational message about the nutritional or environmental benefits of lentils. The results show that receiving this information significantly affected purchase intent, even if the impact was relatively small. Indeed, after this revelation of information, about 10% of participants expressed a change of mind regarding their purchase intent. This effect was dependent on product type (i.e. dried lentils vs lentil pasta) and information type (i.e. nutritional vs environmental benefits). Across countries and products, information about the food’s environmental benefits had often a greater impact on purchase intent than did information about the food’s nutritional benefits. After reading the informational messages, 25-42% of all the participants said they planned to eat more legumes in the future. As consumers choices are weak drivers for developing legumes cultivation, other instruments focusing on farmers incentives such as subsidies could be selected.

Development of a cake rich in resistant starch with good sensory acceptance

The objective of this study was to develop a cake rich in resistant starch, with green banana flour (GBF), of good sensory acceptance. In step 1, four cake formulations were prepared with increasing concentrations of GBF and evaluated for acceptability and purchase intention. In step 2, four new formulations were made by modifying the most accepted formulation in step 1, in addition to the formulation without GBF (control). The resistant starch content, proximate composition, total calorific value, and sensory acceptance data were obtained. The formulation with cocoa powder and dried banana (E1F4) achieved 97.78% overall acceptance and higher purchase intent. In step 2, the formulations with 14% and 18% GBF were the most accepted for flavor, texture/softness, and overall acceptance. Adding the categories of “would certainly buy” and “would probably buy”, 53.33% of consumers would buy the cake with 14% GBF and 48.89% would buy the cake containing 18% GBF. The incorporation of GBF increased the resistant starch contents of the formulations as compared with the control. Ash content was highest in the formulation with 26% GBF (2.22%) and lipid content in the control formulation (11.58%). The treatments did not differ in terms of moisture content. Protein content decreased as the GBF content in the formulations was increased. The total dietary fiber content of the formulations was 9.30%. Carbohydrate content and calorific value also did not vary. The mean values of L*, a*, b*, C*, and h* showed that the cakes had an intense dark brown color. In conclusion, the addition of 14% and 18% GBF to the cake resulted in a product of high sensory acceptance, with high purchase intent, a resistant starch content 7.21 and 8.34 times higher than those in the control cake.