Abstract
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.
Highlights
Seaweeds, more formally known as macroalgae, are large colonies of diversified algae that grow in both freshwater and marine ecosystems around the world
This study aims to build on this work by asking participants to self-identify their hunger status and evaluate their emotional responses to different foods containing seaweed
The dried seaweed and bread were associated with positive emotions and nostalgia, as outlined in the open-ended comment questions
Summary
More formally known as macroalgae, are large colonies of diversified algae that grow in both freshwater and marine ecosystems around the world. Seaweeds are approximately 50% carbohydrates by dry weight [9,13]. Kumar et al [6] found that in five species of brown macroalgae examined, the carbohydrate concentration was between 19.4–34.9% by dry weight. Of the carbohydrates present in seaweed, portions exist as insoluble and soluble fibre in unusually abundant amounts ranging from 29.3 to 50% dry weight [14,15]. Such high values are consistent with or exceed many commonly consumed fruits and vegetables. Seaweeds are excellent sources of both macro- and micro-minerals, even more so than most terrestrial plants [14]. The micro-minerals with the highest concentrations found in seaweed include iron, nickel, cobalt, copper, and manganese [6,16]
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