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Guiné RPF, Florença SG, Costa CA, Correia PMR, Cruz-Lopes L, Esteves B, Ferreira M, Fragata A, Cardoso AP, Campos S, Anjos O, Bartkiene E, Djekic I, Matran IM, Čulin J, Klava D, Chuck-Hernández C, Korzeniowska M, Boustani NM, Papageorgiou M, Gutiérrez BP, Černelič-Bizjak M, Damarli E, Ferreira V. Edible Insects: Perceptions of Marketing, Economic, and Social Aspects among Citizens of Different Countries. Foods 2023; 12:4229. [PMID: 38231666 DOI: 10.3390/foods12234229] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2023] [Revised: 11/08/2023] [Accepted: 11/21/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Because edible insects (EI) have been, in recent years, recommended as a nutritious animal protein food with enormous environmental advantages over other sources of animal protein for human consumption, studies aimed at investigating the consumer perspective have become more prominent. Hence, this study intended to examine the perceptions of participants from different countries about the commercialization and economic and social impacts of edible insects. The study was made using a questionnaire survey, and data were collected in Brazil, Croatia, Greece, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, and Turkey. The final number of received answers was 7222 participants. For the treatment of the results, different statistical techniques were used: factor analysis, internal reliability by Cronbach's alpha, cluster analysis, ANOVA to test differences between groups, and Chi-square tests. The results obtained confirmed the validity of the scale, constituted by 12 out of the 14 items initially considered, distributed by 4 factors: the first related to the economic impact of EIs, the second related to the motivation for consumption of EIs, the third related to the places of purchase of EIs, and the fourth corresponding to a question presented to the participants as a false statement. A cluster analysis allowed identifying three clusters, with significant differences between them according to all the sociodemographic variables tested. Also, it was found that the participants expressed an exceptionally high level of agreement with aspects such as the difficulty in finding EIs on sale, knowledge acting as a strong motivator for EI consumption, and the role of personalities and influencers in increasing the will to consume EIs. Finally, practically all sociodemographic variables were found to be significantly associated with perceptions (country, sex, education, living environment, and income), but not age. In conclusion, the perceptions about EI commercialization were investigated and revealed differences among samples originating from different countries. Moreover, the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants were found to be strongly associated with their perceptions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raquel P F Guiné
- CERNAS Research Centre, Polytechnic University of Viseu, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal
| | - Sofia G Florença
- CERNAS Research Centre, Polytechnic University of Viseu, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal
| | - Cristina A Costa
- CERNAS Research Centre, Polytechnic University of Viseu, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal
| | - Paula M R Correia
- CERNAS Research Centre, Polytechnic University of Viseu, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal
| | - Luísa Cruz-Lopes
- CERNAS Research Centre, Polytechnic University of Viseu, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal
| | - Bruno Esteves
- CERNAS Research Centre, Polytechnic University of Viseu, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal
| | - Manuela Ferreira
- Health Sciences Research Unit: Nursing (UICISA: E), Polytechnic University of Viseu, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal
| | - Anabela Fragata
- CIDEI-IPV Research Centre, Polytechnic University of Viseu, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal
| | - Ana P Cardoso
- CIDEI-IPV Research Centre, Polytechnic University of Viseu, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal
| | - Sofia Campos
- CIDEI-IPV Research Centre, Polytechnic University of Viseu, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal
| | - Ofélia Anjos
- CERNAS Research Centre, Polytechnic University of Castelo Branco, 6001-909 Castelo Branco, Portugal
| | - Elena Bartkiene
- Department of Food Safety and Quality, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, 47181 Kaunas, Lithuania
| | - Ilija Djekic
- Department of Food Safety and Quality Management, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Irina M Matran
- Department of Community Nutrition and Food Safety, GEP University MPhScTch of Targu Mures, 540139 Targu Mures, Romania
| | - Jelena Čulin
- Maritime Department, University of Zadar, 23000 Zadar, Croatia
| | - Dace Klava
- Faculty of Food Technology, Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, LV 3001 Jelgava, Latvia
| | | | - Malgorzata Korzeniowska
- Faculty of Food Science, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 51-630 Wrocław, Poland
| | - Nada M Boustani
- Faculty of Business and Administration, Saint Joseph University, Beirut 1104 2020, Lebanon
| | - Maria Papageorgiou
- Department of Food Science and Technology, International Hellenic University, 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece
| | | | - Maša Černelič-Bizjak
- Department of Nutritional Counseling-Dietetics, Faculty of Health Science, University of Primorska, 6320 Izola, Slovenia
| | - Emel Damarli
- Research and Development Center, Altıparmak Food Coop., Çekmeköy, 34782 İstanbul, Turkey
| | - Vanessa Ferreira
- Department of Nutrition, School of Nursing, UFMG-Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 30130-100, Brazil
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