Health innovation in patty products. The role of food Neophobia in Consumers’ Non-hypothetical willingness to pay, purchase ìntention and hedonic evaluation

Abstract

Consumers' personality traits are key factors in understanding consumers' choice and acceptance for health innovations in food products, in particular, food neophobia (FN). The patty product as a traditional pork product (TPP) with two innovative traditional pork products (ITPP) from the untapped pig breed (Porc Negre Mallorquí) in Spain were analysed. Patties were enriched with Porcini (Boletus edulis) using the claim "enriched with a natural source of dietary fiber Beta glucans that may contribute to improve our defence system" (ITPP1) and enriched with blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum) using the claim "enriched with a natural source of antioxidant that may help to prevent cardiovascular diseases" (ITPP2). Two non-hypothetical discrete choice experiments were applied to investigate the importance of FN in consumers' purchase intention (PI) and willingness to pay (WTP) before and after tasting the products. Results showed that the TPP and the ITPP2 received higher than expected PI and WTP. However, after tasting the products, consumers exhibited lower WTP for all ITPP showing the prevalence of the sensory experience on health innovation. The FN was highly related to WTP before the hedonic evaluation. However, it turned out to be non-significant, showing a homogenising role of the sensory experience in reducing the FN impact.