Christine Lange

Expectation, liking and purchase behaviour under economical constraint

Abstract A panel of 123 consumers from Dijon and Nantes rated their liking for six orange juices (two pure juices, two juices made with concentrate and two nectars) in a blind condition, and then with information about the type of juice and packaging. Expectations induced by the information were also measured and the effect of this expectation on their evaluations were studied, as well as the role of the price on the purchase behaviour when the consumers were placed in a situation of choice under economical constraint. When discrepancy between blind rating and expectation was large, consumers generally moved their ratings towards expectation when they tasted a product in presence of information revealing an assimilation effect. We observed that even under the lowest economical constraint, consumers did not only choose their preferred product. The percentage of expenditure allocated to the first ranked product decreased as price increased and consumers partly transferred their choices to the second ranked product and even to the third ranked product.

Expected versus experienced quality: trade-off with price

This study was conducted in order to compare the behaviour of consumers who had to choose products under economic constraint in two conditions: when perceived quality was based on expectation generated by packaging images, versus when perceived quality was based on sensory experience in presence of packaging images. Randomly selected participants were endowed with a real budget and placed in five different price/budget situations. They stated their choice among six orange juices in each price/budget situation. This task was performed for the two different information conditions. Results demonstrate that participants who chose products without tasting made their choices more rapidly, chose a larger number of variants and their choices tended to be less influenced by liking scores, as compared to participants who chose products after tasting. The comparison between these two conditions permitted us to understand behaviour differences when consumers were in a total or restricted information situation.

Assessing the Effect of Information on the Reservation Price for Champagne: What are Consumers Actually Paying for?

Two series of Vickrey auctions have been performed to assess the effect of packaging information (bottle and label) on the reservation prices of ordinary consumers for five brut non-vintage Champagnes. As in other studies on wine tasting, packaging information is found to explain much more of the variation in willingness to pay than sensory information. Participants are unable, or unwilling, to put different values on the Champagnes after blind tasting, but significant differences in reservation prices appear when labels are disclosed. Detailed analysis of choices reveals a large heterogeneity in individual behaviors and valuations of the Champagnes included in this study. (JEL Classification: C91, D12)

Impact of information and in-home sensory exposure on liking and willingness to pay: The beginning of Fairtrade labeled coffee in France

This study was conducted to assess how the Fairtrade label interacts with the perception of intrinsic product characteristics on liking and purchase decisions and to estimate the evolution of this interaction after exposure to coffees and/or exposure to ethical information. In the first session, 119 consumers gave liking scores for 2 regular and 2 Fairtrade coffees under a blind tasting condition. Then, they were asked to indicate the maximum price they would pay for each product in 2 auctions taking place under different information conditions. In the first auction, participants saw the packaging but did not taste the coffee; in the second auction, they could both taste the coffee and see the packaging. After the first session, the consumers were randomly split into 4 groups, and these groups were exposed for one month to different conditions before returning to the lab for exactly the same measurements as in the first session. The first of the 4 groups was not exposed to sensory characteristics or ethical information. Each consumer of the second group was only exposed to sensory characteristics of the coffees (one packet of his/her least liked regular and ethical coffees delivered in blind packaging for home consumption). The third group was exposed to sensory characteristics and ethical information (the same as the second group but using the original coffee packaging showing fair trade information). The final group was only exposed to ethical information. Results showed that the hedonic scores of the least liked ethical and regular products increased from sessions 1 to 2, but not significantly more when consumers were exposed to these products between the sessions. However, while consumers offered lower prices for ethical products at the first session, those who were exposed to ethical information increased their willingness to pay for ethical products. This effect became statistically significant when consumers could taste the products before making their bid. The effect of exposure to ethical information was also transferred to the willingness to pay for the ethical product to which the consumers were not exposed. This study highlights the interest of a design, which makes it possible to assess the impact over time of sensory and external information on the willingness to pay.

Early factors related to carbohydrate and fat intake at 8 and 12 months: results from the EDEN mother|[ndash]|child cohort

Background/Objectives:Few studies have examined the factors explaining the variability in fat and carbohydrate intake during infancy. We aimed to describe infants’ fat and carbohydrate intake and analyse the associations with infant and maternal characteristics and feeding practices.Subjects/Methods:This study included 1275 infants aged 8 months from the French EDEN mother–child cohort. Carbohydrate intake, fat intake, added fat (vegetable oils and animal fats) and added sugar (honey, white sugar, brown sugar, jam and sweetened beverages) consumption were calculated at 8 and 12 months. Associations between these variables and infant and maternal characteristics as well as maternal dietary patterns during pregnancy, breast-feeding duration and age at complementary feeding introduction were analysed using multivariable linear and logistic regressions.Results:Less than 5% of non-breast-fed infants reached the recommendation of consuming at least 40% of total energy from fat, whereas more than 95% of them reached 45% of energy from carbohydrates. Overall, infant and maternal characteristics and maternal diet during pregnancy were marginally associated with both carbohydrate/added sugar and fat/added fat intake. Nevertheless, age at complementary feeding introduction was associated with all outcomes.Conclusions:Our results suggest that only a small proportion of non-breast-fed infants at 8 and 12 months reached the recommendations for fat intake, whereas a majority of them reached the recommendations for carbohydrate intake. As subgroups of infants with a higher risk of inadequate diet were not identified, the present results call for an improved dissemination of information regarding infant-specific dietary fat needs in the entire population.

Product Information, Hedonic Evaluation, and Purchase Decision: an Experimental Study of Orange Juice

Two randomly sampled groups of subjects were endowed with real budgets and placed in 5 different budget/price situations. In each situation they had to evaluate 6 orange juices and complete a demand table. At the end of the experiment, one demand table was randomly selected and participants had to buy the corresponding products. In one group, participants choose after looking at the packaging in the other they could also taste the products. Results show that participants who chose without tasting, made quicker decisions, selected a larger number of variants and were more influenced by prices than those who could taste the products. Although choices appeared very heterogeneous, most participants exhibit coherent behaviors. (JEL classification: C91, D12)

Sweet drink exposure and liking for sweet taste in school-age children

Sweet drink exposure and liking for sweet taste in school-age children. 39. annual meeting of the british feeding and drinking group

P229: Déterminants de l’apport en glucides au cours la 1re année de vie dans la cohorte mère-enfant EDEN

Introduction et but de l’etude Recemment, des etudes ont montre le role des expositions precoces sur les choix alimentaires de l’enfant. De plus, il a ete montre que les habitudes alimentaires etablies dans l’enfance persistent a l’âge adulte. Il apparait donc important d’identifier les leviers d’action pour optimiser la qualite des premieres expositions alimentaires dans l’objectif de mettre en place des habitudes alimentaires saines des le plus jeune âge. Dans ce contexte, notre objectif est d’etudier les determinants de l’exposition aux glucides dans la premiere annee de vie. Materiel et methodes Un enregistrement alimentaire sur 3 jours (2 jours en semaine et un jour de weekend) ete complete a 8 et 12 mois respectivement par 1 275 et 1 220 meres de la cohorte EDEN (Etude des determinants pre- et post-natals de la sante de l’enfant) permettant de calculer l’apport journalier en glucides totaux a 8 et 12 mois et en glucides simples a 12 mois. L’apport en glucides a ete ajuste sur l’energie par la methode des densites nutri-tionnelles (part de l’energie totale apportee par les glucides, ajustee sur l’energie totale ingeree). Les determinants potentiels de l’apport en glucides consideres ont ete le sexe de l’enfant, le diabete gesta-tionnel, le statut marital, le revenu du menage, le niveau d’education de la mere, la taille de la fratrie, les profils d’alimentation maternelle pendant la grossesse (obtenus par analyse en composantes principales) et les profils d’alimentation pendant la 1re annee de vie (âge de diversification, âge d’introduction des differentes categories d’aliments, utilisation d’aliments faits «maison», «specifique bebe » ou « non specifique »). Les determinants potentiels ont ete analyses a l’aide de regressions lineaires multiples. Resultats et Analyse statistique L’apport en glucides totaux a 8 mois ou en glucides simples a 12 mois est associe negativement au niveau de revenus du menage. Un apport eleve aux glucides simples a 12 mois est associe avec un niveau d’etudes maternel eleve et une fratrie comportant plus d’enfants. Aucune association n’a ete observee entre l’apport en glucides et le sexe de l’enfant, le statut marital ou le diabete gestationnel. L’apport en glucides totaux a 8 mois est associe positivement a un profil alimentaire « sain » chez la mere. Cependant, cette relation ne persiste pas a 12 mois. Enfin, l’apport en glucides totaux a 8 et 12 mois, et en glucides simples a 12 mois est associe positivement au profil caracterise par une diversification tardive et l’utilisation d’aliments « specifique bebe » et negativement au profil caracterise par un allaitement long, une diversification tardive et l’utilisation d’aliments faits « maison ». Conclusion Nos resultats suggerent qu’un apport eleve en glucides simples a 12 mois est associe a certaines pratiques de diversification et aux caracteristiques du menage.