Effect of Disclosed Information on Product Liking, Emotional Profile, and Purchase Intent: A Case of Chocolate Brownies Containing Edible-Cricket Protein

Edible insects, a sustainable and nutritious alternative to conventionally derived proteins, are unfamiliar to Westerners and often associated with negative sentiments. Edible-cricket protein (ECP) added to chocolate brownies (CB) [0% ECP = CBWO (without) vs. 6% w/w ECP = CBW (with)], and disclosed information [no ECP added = (-) vs. ECP with benefits = (+), ECP- and ECP+, respectively] yielded four CB treatments (CBWO-, CBWO+, CBW-, and CBW+). Subjects (n = 112 female and n = 98 male) rated liking, selected emotions before- and after-tasting, and determined consumption (CI) and purchase intent (PI) after tasting. Likings were analyzed with mixed-effects ANOVA and post hoc Tukey's HSD test. Emotions were evaluated with Cochran's-Q test and correspondence analysis. Emotions driving or inhibiting overall liking (OL) were assessed with penalty-lift analyses using two-sample t-tests. A random forest algorithm was used to predict PI and estimate variables' importance. Female's and male's expected OL were higher for CBWO- than for CBWO+. Females' actual OL was higher for CBWO than for CBW regardless of the disclosed information but males' actual OL was the same across treatments. Females exhibited negative-liking disconfirmation for CBW-. In both tasting conditions, the disclosed information affected treatments' emotional profiles more than formulation. After-tasting emotions happy and satisfied were critical predictors of PI.

Automated summary

The study found that females had a higher preference for chocolate brownies without ECP compared to those with ECP, and females showed higher actual liking for CBWO compared to CBW, while males had similar actual liking across treatments. Females exhibited negative-liking disconfirmation for CBW-.