REPRESENTAÇÕES ANGULARES E ARREDONDAS DE DESENHOS NAS EMBALAGENS DE BARRAS DE CEREAL: Um caminho para aumentar a aceitação dos insetos comestíveis?

Abstract

World population growth puts pressure on food supply chains, highlighting the need for protein-rich alternatives such as edible insects. Despite being consumed by millions of people globally, insects still face resistance in the West due to cultural prejudices and feelings of disgust. The effective promotion of insect-based products requires marketing strategies that aid consumer perception. It is known that abstract representations of insects, rather than realistic images of them, reduce consumer aversion. However, the question of how these abstract images should appear to the consumer remains open. In the light of the theory of crossmodal correspondences, this study examined the association made among Brazilian consumers about the shape of animals (angular vs. rounded) and the relationship between these shapes and the sensory aspect of taste and perceived healthiness. Contrary to other studies that have looked for relationships between food shape and taste, the insect experiment brought a curiosity: it was observed that the strongest association found was between angular shape and sweet taste, unlike other studies where the association of angular was strongly associated with salty, sour and bitter tastes. The willingness to buy and consume the product was also more strongly associated with the angular image of the insect, and disgust was lower for the angular shape. Finally, it was found that healthiness was associated with the angular shape.