CONSUMEHealth is on a good track in reaching all the specific objectives during the project lifetime and is progressing well. For the first 24 months of the fellowship, Dr. Sogari carried out his activities at Cornell University, under the supervision of Professor Miguel Gomez (Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. All the research milestones for the first reporting period have been either completed or in progress to be finalized. The work for the incoming phase of the project at the University of Parma (starting month 25) has already been discussed with the supervisor Dr. Cristina Mora. Moreover, also the secondment at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has been planned and scheduled from January-June 2020.
The Project has two main outputs which build on each other in order to produce the major contributions:
1. Qualitative research for initial exploration using personal interviews to a group of stakeholders (i.e. experts in food science and consumer behavior) and focus groups techniques to a group of consumers (e.g. college students in US and Italy)
2. Large consumer surveys with questionnaires, choice experiments and sensory analysis, designed using the information gained from the qualitative research.
1. In the qualitative research, a group of University students in US and Italy participated in six semi-structured focus groups. A qualitative software, CAQDAS Nvivo11 Plus, was used to create codes that categorized the group discussions while using an Ecological Model. Common barriers to healthy eating were time constraints, unhealthy snacking, convenience high-calorie food, stress, high prices of healthy food, and easy access to junk food. Conversely, enablers to healthy behavior were improved food knowledge and education, meal planning, involvement in food preparation, and being physically active.
2. Two separate surveys were carried out in an American College Dining venue. The first study was conducted with a student sample (n=285) with the aim to investigate the motivations to process information, consumers attitude and intention to purchase towards a novel healthier burger. A questionnaire was distributed right after the students consumed a burger in which beef was partially replaced by mushroom (30%) compared to a traditional recipe. We find that providing information highlighting the positive attributes of this novel burger has a positive impact on its acceptability. In addition, participants’ attitudes significantly influence their behavioral intention, which is a good predictor for actual consumption behavior. These findings can inform future marketing strategies to simultaneously reduce meat consumption and increase vegetable intakes in diets among college students.
The second study examined the effects of source credibility and message framing on including whole grain pasta in college student diet in the next month. Data collection was carried out across several dining halls US. 497 college students, who regularly consume pasta, participated to this study. An online questionnaire with attitudinal scale was distributed during dinner time. The results show that attitude (a person’s favorable or unfavorable evaluation of the behavior), subjective norms (what important others think one should do), and perceived behavioral control (the perceived ease or difficulty of performing the behavior) are significant predictors of the intention to consume whole grain pasta in the coming month.
