Abstract
The current report investigates consumer acceptance of new food technologies by reviewing the scientific literature. The review is organised along three routes to consumer acceptance of new technologies: The consumer benefit road: the central road of technology features influencing experienced product attributes; the technology apprehension road: a socio-political road where unfamiliarity and dread may lead to negative technology attitudes, which may create categorical rejection of any product created with that technology; and the retail/caterer service road: where novel technologies does not directly influence perceived product characteristics, but results in novel retail and caterer business models, product placement and customer relation services. The available literature on 4 types of novel food technologies Mild processing technologies; Electromagnetic
methods; Texturizing technologies; and Novel packaging and storage technologies is reviewed along these roads. The results show that research remains fragmented in approach and usually adopts the point of view of a single road to consumer acceptance of a novel technology. Nevertheless by combining the available evidence recommendation can be made how the different roads contribute to consumer acceptance or rejection of a novel food technology dependent on technology haracteristics.
A checklist for the introduction of novel food technologies taking account of all the roads and the technology is presented at the end of this report.
Original language | English |
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Number of pages | 27 |
Publication status | Published - 2012 |