Abstract
Many factors can affect the success of food product innovations. One such factor is the role played by consumer attitudes and psychological factors, especially the way consumers feel towards technology, their attitude towards risk, and the perceived relationship between nutrition and health. With a view to analysing these factors, this paper first identifies consumer groups using a technophobia/technophilia scale and then relates attitude to technology with purchasing behaviour regarding products which have a higher level of manipulation. A set of statements based on the psychometric scale proposed by Cox and Evans was administered to a sample of 355 individuals intercepted as they left supermarkets and hypermarkets. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis were applied to identify groups of homogeneous individuals with regard to the behaviour of the interviewees in relation to technology. Results show the presence of seven different groups, including a small group of convinced technophiles (13% of the sample). This group of early adopters can play an important role in promoting the use of innovative products, thereby contributing to a rapid increase in demand. Moreover, an important aspect was the result with respect to confidence attributed to the media in ensuring correct and unbiased information regarding new food technologies. Many of the respondents judged the media negatively in this respect. However, appropriate use of the media could be an important lever to counteract the attitude of caution or scepticism.
Highlights
Product innovation is a key feature in company development strategy
This paper aims, first of all, to ascertain whether it is possible to identify and characterise consumer groups using a technophobia/technophilia scale and, secondly, to correlate behaviour in relation to technology with consumption choices of products which have a different level of naturalness/manipulation
The relationship between attitudes, intentions and behaviour is extensively covered in the literature and has been one of the chief aspects tackled by consumer studies in the economic and social field for the past 25 years
Summary
Product innovation is a key feature in company development strategy. This especially holds true in the food industry where increasing competitiveness is occurring alongside a schizophrenic evolution of consumer demand where environmental, social and ethical concerns coexist with hedonism, interest in innovative food and alternative cuisines, and the spreading of new eating habits, such as vegetarianism and veganism, seems to occur alongside their traditional counterparts. Consumers increasingly demand organic products, food that has natural requisites, which is produced with environmentally friendly techniques, as well as typical products and locally grown products, for which knowledge of the production area and the underlying tradition are guarantees in themselves (Tenbült et al, 2005; Verhoog et al, 2003). These different trends may be connected to the way in which consumers behave when faced with technology. During 2000 and 2001 around 50% to 67% of the new products were withdrawn within one year from the food retailing shelves in Germany, and similar figures, in most recent years (2010–2012), are reported with the reference to the US market (Mintel International Group Ltd 2013)
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