We will eat disgusting foods together – evidence of the normative basis of Western entomophagy-disgust from an insect tasting
| Autor: | Niels Holm Jensen, Andreas Lieberoth |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
Entomophagy
0303 health sciences Nutrition and Dietetics 030309 nutrition & dietetics media_common.quotation_subject fungi 04 agricultural and veterinary sciences Insect 040401 food science Disgust humanities 03 medical and health sciences 0404 agricultural biotechnology Optimism Perception Normative Wine tasting Norm (social) Psychology Social psychology Food Science media_common |
| Zdroj: | Jensen, N H & Lieberoth, A 2019, ' We will eat disgusting foods together – evidence of the normative basis of Western entomophagy-disgust from an insect tasting ', Food Quality and Preference, vol. 72, pp. 109-115 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2018.08.012 |
| Popis: | Insects are a highly sustainable and nutritional source of protein, and, thus, incorporating insects in to Western food culture would address major global challenges such as global warming, deforestation, and obesity. Consumer studies show, however, that Westerners’ willingness to eat insect-containing food is low. One formidable barrier is the perception that insects are disgusting, and it is generally believed that this insect-disgust is driven by an evolutionary wired fear of contamination and disease. In the present study, we tested the biological and cultural roots of Western insect-disgust with a survey and a tasting session administered to a Danish college sample (N = 198). Univariate and multivariate regression analyses of the results, revealed that Perceived Infectability and selfreported trait-level Pathogen Disgust did not consistently predict food neophobia, insect-disgust, willingness to eat insects, and actual insect eating behavior in the tasting session. In contrast, perceived social norms emerged as a significant predictor of insect eating behavior. These findings suggest that food culture and perceived social norms play a substantial role in Westerners’ insect-disgust. The result provides reason for optimism for aspirations of introducing insects in Western food diet and point to avenues for harnessing social norms in marketing efforts. Insects are a highly sustainable and nutritious source of protein, and, thus, incorporating insects in to Western food culture is one way to address major global challenges like global warming and deforestation. Consumer studies show, however, that Westerners’ willingness to eat insect-containing food is low. One formidable barrier is the perception that insects are disgusting, and it is generally believed that this insect-disgust is driven by a fear of contamination and disease. Another barrier is the lack of social norms related to entomophagy in the West. In the present study, we tested effects of fear of contamination and perceived social eating norm with a survey and a tasting session administered to a Danish college sample (N = 189). Correlation analyses and multivariate regression analyses revealed that selfreported trait-level Pathogen Disgust and Perceived Infectability did not consistently predict insect eating disgust, willingness to eat insects, or actual insect tasting behavior in the tasting session. In contrast, perceived insect eating norm emerged as a significant predictor of insect tasting behavior. These findings suggest that perceived social norms play a substantial role in Westerners’ (un)willingness to eat insects. The result gives reason for optimism for aspirations of introducing insects in Western food diet and point to avenues for harnessing social norms in marketing efforts. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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