O Impacto da Marca de País de Origem na Intenção de Consumir Alimentos à Base de Insetos

Abstract

The global food consumption scenario and the influence of a country's brand on consumer decision-making motivated the purpose of this work. The global market for edible insects is growing and cultural issues, disgust, and low perception of quality are barriers to consumption. Considering that the use of the country of origin label (COOL) can result in a greater intention and better perception of quality, these clues led to the objective of verifying whether it has an impact on the intention to consume insect-based foods. A total of 311 consumers participated in an online experiment. Four hypotheses were formulated based on the total food quality model and tested by mediation and moderation analyzes. Consumers showed a preference for a cricket flour produced by the United States, considered a country with a positive image as a food producer by the sample. Quality expectation was not developed from the observation of the COOL, but it had an influence on intention and was more important than the country of origin for the consumer. Nutrition, health, and excitement were the best-rated items for the flour and a multiple regression analysis showed that a better perception of taste, appearance and interest can improve intention. It is a practical implication of this study that product communication strategies should pay attention to the fact that the consumer must perceive important signs to him so that they can be used in the decision-making process. The level of rejection of novel foods (neophobia) can weaken the effect of quality expectation on intention, therefore, the development of products should be sought in view of this relationship, making the product attractive enough to minimize this barrier. This study aimed to contribute to a better understanding of the consumer's perception of an insect-based food and about the improvement of the consumption intention.