Consumer intention towards buying edible beef offal and the relevance of food neophobia

Sabbagh, M., Gutierrez, L., Lai, R. and Nocella, G. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9625-6315 (2023) Consumer intention towards buying edible beef offal and the relevance of food neophobia. Foods, 12 (12). 2340. ISSN 2304-8158 doi: 10.3390/foods12122340

Abstract/Summary

Enhancing the willingness to eat edible offal can be a valuable strategy to mitigate the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to growing meat production and to provide food with high protein content to a growing global population. Although some edible offal is considered delicacies, we hardly find such foods in Western countries’ everyday diet, and their human consumption has decreased during the last decades. This study analyses the consumer purchase intention of BEEF edible offal using an extended version of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), where food neophobia and food disgust sensitivity play an essential role in determining consumers’ willingness to eat beef edible offal. An online survey was conducted among a sample of Italian adult regular meat eaters (n = 720), stratified by age, gender, education and residence. The results showed a direct negative impact of food neophobia on the intention to consume offal. Further, we were able to quantify a negative indirect impact of food neophobia on intention through the mediation of food disgust sensitivity and attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control, which all exert an essential role in determining the willingness to consume beef edible offal. We found that the mediated impact of food neophobia on the intention to consume beef offal is much higher than the direct impact. In conclusion, recommendations and implications, such as promoting cooking shows with celebrity chefs, new products or new packaging of edible offal, were developed based on the results to increase edible beef consumption.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/112240
Identification Number/DOI	10.3390/foods12122340
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Agriculture, Policy and Development > Department of Agri-Food Economics & Marketing
Publisher	MDPI
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