How a combination of two contradicting concepts is represented: The representation of premium instant noodles and premium yogurts by different age groups.

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the representation of the association between two contradicting concepts: premium and low-priced foods (instant noodles and yogurt) by different age group. Subjects undertook free word association tasks relating to the cue words premium, instant noodles, yogurts, premium instant noodles, premium yogurts and rated their importance. Subjects comprised 150 individuals from three different age groups: the adolescents (AD), aged 13-18\u202fyears; the young adults (YA), aged 19-29\u202fyears;, and the middle-aged adults (MA), aged >30-years. Words elicited from subjects were classified into central core and peripheral elements according to their frequency of occurrence and their importance. Representations of instant noodle, premium noodles, yogurt and premium yogurt were compared to examine whether the use of the term premium has a food-specific influence or a universal effect on the development of representations. Differences in representations among age groups were investigated using correspondence analysis. The central core of both premium instant noodles and premium yogurt consisted of delicious, health, and good for health. In addition, high quality, expensive, price, and good were transferred from the representation of premium to both those of yogurt and instant noodles. This suggests that the addition of the term premium has a universal effect across food items. Addition of premium to instant noodle and yogurt increased negative emotions. The representation of premium instant noodles and premium yogurt significantly differed by age. MA associated premium food items with price while YA related them with quality aspects. These differences seemed to be associated with the experiences that each group had gathered with regard to the terms premium, instant noodles, and yogurt.