Puppy power: How neophobia, attitude towards sustainability, and animal empathy affect the demand for insect-based pet food.

Despite growing commercial interest in novel foods, there are few studies that analyse consumer willingness to purchase them as pet food. This study aimed to test whether consumers are willing to accept the use of foods with insect-based ingredients, which are found to be poorly accepted for human consumption, to feed their pets. In our case study, we analysed the willingness of 400 Italian dog and/or cat caregivers to pay for pet foods containing insect proteins, as measured by the Multiple Price List methodology. We also explored the role of food neophobia, attention to environmental sustainability, and empathy toward one's pet. The results of the study pointed out that the usual determinants of acceptance in the consumption of novel foods, such as food neophobia and attention to environmental sustainability, play an important role even when the purchase is for the household pet, and that empathy as an expression of the pet caregiver's personal relationship with their pet becomes an additional factor. Insect-based pet foods proved to be attractive for purchase only when consumers are well informed about the product's properties in terms of sustainability and healthiness for their pets.

Simply red? The effects of distinct colours and sustainable production methods on the consumers' preferences for healthier sweet peppers.

The purpose of this paper is to thoroughly assess the value of colours in consumers' preferences for sweet peppers, and the association with more sustainable methods of production in the consumers' minds. Furthermore, this study provides novel insights into the influence of colours on the willingness to pay (WTP) for vegetables. It explores the interplay between colours, food attributes, and socio-demographic characteristics among consumers, marking the first attempt to examine this relationship comprehensively. A discrete choice experiment, based on consumers' preferences for sweet pepper attributes (price, colour, and production method), was implemented and a Seemingly Unrelated Regression model was then applied to evaluate the willingness to pay for different colours. The study has revealed that different colours provide consumers with different utilities and WTP in the choices of potential healthier foods. In addition, gender, age, education and number of family components play a role in affecting consumers' WTP of food linked to colour. Finally, it was found that consumers' knowledge for certain pepper colours with different antioxidant contents is interrelated. This study introduces several novelties, in particular a positive correlation between interest in antioxidants and colours was found, suggesting that interest in healthy food properties might move consumers towards a specific sensory choice.