Exploring Consumers’ Associations Related To Traditional Foods With Two Different Methods: Mood Boards And Repertory Grid
Margrethe Hersleth 1,2, Britt Signe Granli 2, Cecilie Simonsen 2 Elin Kubberød 1
1) Matforsk AS, Ås, Norway
2) The Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
Consumers’ interest in traditional food products is increasing in a competitive food market. For producers to be able to communicate the distinctive characteristic of these products, it is important to explore consumers’ perception and associations linked to such products.
Factors affecting consumers appreciation of traditional food products are characterised by a complex quality profile including intrinsic (sensory, health and nutrition) and extrinsic (ethics and culture) properties. The main objective of this study was to explore consumers’ associations related to traditional food products. Important research questions in the study have been:
- Are associations related to traditional food different from those related to novel food?
- Are associations general for different categories of traditional food products or specific for each product category?
We combined and compared results from two different methods: Mood Boards (visual approach) and Repertory Grid (verbal approach). Consumers associations for eight food products representing four product categories (bread, meat, chocolate and cheese) were explored. Within each category two products were selected and presented to consumers, one representing a traditional product and one representing a novel product. Altogether 30 consumers participated in the study. The consumers started with making Mood Boards representing four different products (two traditional and two novel) and continued with in dept-interviews describing similarities and differences between one traditional and one novel product within two different product categories.
The results showed that both methods gave similar results (associations), namely that associations related to traditional food are different from those related to novel food and few associations are common. The study also revealed that some associations were general for the four different categories of traditional food and some were specific. The study demonstrated that Mood Boards is an efficient method to elicit visual information, however this information may be challenging to interpret.