Workpackage 5 – Model development: The objective of WP5 is to model and evaluate the effect of repeated exposure to a target vegetable measured by changes in consumers; acceptability, intention, attitude and actual consumption. Why study determinants of vegetable intake? Stepping beyond the individual approach to energy intake vs. energy expenditure imbalance, there are many plausible ecological explanations, where structural factors play a prominent role. But other factors may also contribute to explain the rise in obesity levels, particularly in adolescents, such as the so-called obesogenic environment, which in itself reflects socio-economic and demographic disparities. Previous EU research on food component model development and consumer characteristics has focused on meat (e.g. FP6 Q-PorkChains or FP7 Prosafebeef), fish and seafood (FP7 SeaFood+), but not on vegetables, and little research has been carried out in living laboratories. Bournemouth, Firenze and Aalborg Universities have the confidence and experience to conduct this type of work. This WP addresses the industrial challenges: Analysis and assessment of the differences in actual consumption of dishes containing canned or frozen vegetables compared to an unexposed control group before intervention; provide evidence about the differences in consumption/intake by age groups and institutional setting that act as living laboratories; provide evidence regarding changes in attitudes, intention of consumption and acceptability of the vegetables and support with empirical evidence the most acceptable menu type item containing the target vegetables.
VeggiEAT’s model will bring together the results from the exposure study and the choice architecture studies, including the emotions measured by FaceReader ®, and thus combining in one dataset, consumer intelligence, emotional reaction towards the target vegetable, the foodscapes (environment and company) and other attitudinal factors. All of these will be synthesised in a structural equation model aimed at the identification of the factors’ path that determines vegetable consumption across age groups in institutional settings.
This WP will be led by University of Copenhagen (UCPH).
Workpackage 5 report –Production of model mapping determinants of vegetable acceptability through sensory characteristics and choice architecture
Authors:
University of Copenhagen – Denmark and University of Florence
