The effect of language on purchase intention and expected tastiness: a study on different meat options and meat replacements.

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2023-07-11

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en

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The research question addressed in this study is whether the language used in food advertisements can influence purchase intention and expected tastiness for different types of food, including innovative options like 3D-printed food. The study builds upon previous research that has shown the impact of language on consumer choices, specifically focusing on food labels and descriptions. This study is a mixed design with between (type of food) and within (type of description) subject factors: 3 (type of description; neutral, indulgent, nutritional) x3 (type of food; real meat, vegan, 3D-printed meat alternatives). The type of description and type of food are the independent variables in this study, purchase intention and expected tastiness are dependent variables. In this study, 27 advertisements were created to investigate the impact of language use on purchase intention and expected tastiness. The advertisements featured the three types of food (real meat, vegan alternatives and 3D-printed meat alternatives) and were presented in three different language conditions (neutral, nutritional and indulgent). The advertisements were presented ad random to the 305 participants that filled out the survey, the 283 participants who fully filled out the survey were used in the analysis. Participants answered questions about eating habits surrounding real meat, fish, vegan alternatives and 3D- printed meat alternatives. To test the hypothesis and research question two separate mixed repeated measures ANOVAs were used to test the effect of language on expected tastiness and purchase intention. In conclusion, this study found no significant effects of different types of description on purchase intention and no significant interaction between type of food and type of description. However, there was a significant main effect of type of food on expected tastiness, with real meat scoring the highest, followed by vegan alternatives, and then 3D-printed alternatives. These findings suggest that factors other than description may play a more significant role in consumers' purchase decisions regarding these food types. Future research could focus on identifying and exploring these factors and their influence on consumer preferences and behaviors related to food choices.

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Faculteit der Letteren