“Consumer perceptions of alternative food processing methods for organic products: the role of emotions”

Understanding consumers’ expectations about the process-related quality of organic products as well as communicating with consumers about food processing technologies are important subjects for the food sector, given the increasing public interest in how ingredients are processed. The uncertainty about processing technologies in consumers’ minds can lead them to misinterpret the labels, given shopping time is limited. A definition of careful processing may help, if correctly communicated, to further distinguish organic food products from conventional ones. Moreover, it will address the development of new production methods suitable for the processing of organic foods. However, organic consumers’ acceptance is essential for the successful implementation of these technologies. The transparency about processing methods may increase consumers’ confidence in organic processed foods and the organic sector as a whole. This may be obtained by proper communication of the level of “carefulness” of processing methods. Since emotions play an important role in consumers' preferences, it is important to understand how emotions can influence organic consumers’ behavior when choosing among different processing methods. In this study, a working definition of “organic careful processing” was introduced and tested. Besides, a 2-minutes video of a shopping experience with anxiety-inducing features and audio (screaming baby) was specifically prepared for this study, as well as a neutral-tone cartoon illustrating different processing methods. To answer the various research questions formulated for the present study, four different experiments were carried out. Study 0 tested the ability of the video to induce a state of anxiety in respondents. Study 1 tested the consistency of ranking different processing methods using the working definition of organic careful processing and different ranking schemes (monochromatic or multi-color-based). Study 2 tested the role of induced anxiety in influencing consumer preferences for different processing methods; Study 3 tested the role of induced anxiety in influencing consumer preferences for differently communicated more or less careful processing methods; Findings show that: 1) when the definition of organic careful processing was communicated, the definition allows to consistently rank the different technologies: 2) induced anxiety does not significantly influence the choice of processing methods; 3) induced anxiety does not appear to significantly influence the way consumers choose among food products with different levels of “carefulness” in processing methods communicated by colour or monochromatic scales. These preliminary findings will help to fill the gap in the perception of organic consumers regarding alternative food processing technologies