Indonesian millennial consumers’ perception of tempe – And how it is affected by product information and consumer psychographic traits

Abstract

Nine different tempe (five traditional and four modernised versions of tempe) were tested by 165 millennial consumers (63.6% women) in blind and informed sessions. The effects of information on hedonic response, sensory perception, collative properties and the product-elicited emotions were evaluated. The provided information related to the raw materials (bean type), origin (local or imported) and the production methods (traditional inoculum usar, with starter culture inoculum ragi and use of stainless steel factory processing equipment hygienis). The millennial consumers’ hedonic response and other parts of their perception were highly affected by the product information. The five traditional tempe were more liked when the product information was provided. In addition, significantly differences in collative properties were observed when product information is provided. Particularly the collative properties Authentic and Traditional. The elicited emotion that were most affected were Proudness. Surprisingly, a number of sensory properties were also affected significantly by the provided information. However, the interaction is not systematic neither for bean nor production type. Segmentation of respondents based on their level of Food Neophobia and Attitudes Towards Traditional Foods (ATTF), showed profound differences. ATTF segmentation in particular, as it affected both hedonic response, elicited emotions, as well as sensory and collative properties. Pro-traditional consumers reacted more positively to the information than other segments. The results demonstrated the powerful effect of transparency regarding the products’ provenience and product methods. The results show the importance of the millennial consumers’ education and information to preserve or maintain the diversity of food we eat.