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Consumer behavior and beverage choice
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Consumer behavior and beverage choice

A special issue of Beverages (ISSN 2306-5710).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2016) | Viewed by 65330

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Miranda Mirosa

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Food Science, University of Otago, New Zealand
Interests: Consumer behavior and food/beverage choice; Consumer research methods; Cross cultural research on food/beverage preferences; Asian consumers' food/beverage preferences; The impact of food/beverage choice on consumers' health and wellness; Environmental and sustainability issues around food/beverage choice
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue focuses on the factors that influence consumers’ drinking behaviors and beverage choice. These factors include wide-ranging spheres of influence that directly or indirectly influence drinking behaviors and beverage choice: individual influences (e.g., biological, psychological/psychosocial); social influences (e.g., family); environmental influences (e.g., institutional and community); and macro-system influences (e.g., marketing, culture and values, food systems).

The 21st Century is characterized by a number of complex “wicked” challenges like food security, climate change and obesity. In light of these challenges, this Special Issue is focused on, not only identifying the factors of influence, but also on how to best impact upon these factors of influence to encourage people to choose quality, healthy, and environmentally sustainable beverages.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Miranda Mirosa
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Beverages is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

(1) Factors that influence consumers’ drinking behaviors and beverage choice:

  • individual influences (e.g., biological, psychological/psychosocial);
  • social influences (e.g., family);
  • environmental influences (e.g., institutional and community);
  • macro-system influences (e.g., marketing, culture and values, food systems).

(2) How to best impact upon these factors of influence to encourage people to choose quality, healthy and environmentally sustainable beverages.

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

810 KiB  
Article
Job-Sorting Assignment to Assess Cream Liqueur Brand Image
by Adriana Gámbaro, Carmen Ivankovich, Antonella Roascio, Miguel Amarillo, Marcelo Miraballes and Yorleny Araya-Quesada
Beverages 2017, 3(1), 11; https://doi.org/10.3390/beverages3010011 - 10 Feb 2017
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 5121
Abstract
Projective techniques rely on a stimulus to elicit from respondents projections of their beliefs onto other people or objects, thus reflecting their own perceptions, feelings and motivations. In this work, the job-sorting technique, in combination with Aaker’s personality scale, was applied to the [...] Read more.
Projective techniques rely on a stimulus to elicit from respondents projections of their beliefs onto other people or objects, thus reflecting their own perceptions, feelings and motivations. In this work, the job-sorting technique, in combination with Aaker’s personality scale, was applied to the study of cream liqueur brand image in Uruguay and Costa Rica. Eight jobs with different levels of intellectual complexity, salary and physical demands were selected. In each of the two countries, three (two imported and one locally made) liqueurs were presented to 90 consumers with similar socio-demographic characteristics. Respondents were told to select the job, profession or occupation (JPO) that best fitted each brand. After JPO selection, respondents were asked to select from a list of 88 personality traits all the words that they considered applicable to each JPO selected. The JPOs associated with the different brands showed no similarity between Uruguayan and Costa Rican respondents, but the personality traits associated with the two imported brands were similar in both countries, supporting the use of JPOs as metaphors in the study of brand images. The brand image of locally made liqueurs was associated with traits that differed clearly from those of the imported brands. These results provide relevant information for the design of marketing strategies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Consumer behavior and beverage choice)
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296 KiB  
Article
Is Binge Drinking Prevalent in Greece after the Emergence of the Economic Crisis? Assessment of This Idea Using the Theory of Planned Behavior
by George Vlontzos, Marie Noelle Duquenne and Spyros Niavis
Beverages 2017, 3(1), 3; https://doi.org/10.3390/beverages3010003 - 5 Jan 2017
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 5806
Abstract
This paper aims to evaluate the impact of the ongoing economic crisis in Greece on alcohol consumption and binge drinking. For this reason, the Theory of Planned Behavior is being applied by using a sample of nearly 900 questionnaires. The questionnaire consists of [...] Read more.
This paper aims to evaluate the impact of the ongoing economic crisis in Greece on alcohol consumption and binge drinking. For this reason, the Theory of Planned Behavior is being applied by using a sample of nearly 900 questionnaires. The questionnaire consists of parts trying to identify the attitude of the interviewees towards alcohol, their subjective norms of social environment, and the perceived behavioral control. This research has been implemented on a national level. The most important finding is the considerable difference in alcohol consumption compared with other countries faced similar negative economic situations. Drinking is considered as a source of pleasure and socializing. The participants’ perception is that family environment and friends are not considering drinking as a non-desirable way of entertainment. As one of the major results of the survey, drinking was found to not be driven by a necessity to overcome problems related to it, which is the main difference with previous studies in others countries, like Argentina, Russia, USA, etc. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Consumer behavior and beverage choice)
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677 KiB  
Article
Influence of Wine Education on Wine Hedonic and Confidence Ratings by Millennial Wine Consumers of Different Ethnicities
by Margaret A. Cliff, Masoumeh Bejaei, Marjorie C. King and David A. J. McArthur
Beverages 2016, 2(4), 32; https://doi.org/10.3390/beverages2040032 - 23 Nov 2016
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 6899
Abstract
Consumer wine preferences are not well understood. Anecdotally it is believed that preferences evolve over time, from sweet whites to full-bodied reds, as consumers become more experienced and familiar with wine. However, little is known about the change in wine preference or confidence [...] Read more.
Consumer wine preferences are not well understood. Anecdotally it is believed that preferences evolve over time, from sweet whites to full-bodied reds, as consumers become more experienced and familiar with wine. However, little is known about the change in wine preference or confidence with education and training. This research explored changes in consumers’ hedonic and confidence ratings for five commercial British Columbian (BC) wines (Ehrenfelser, Chardonnay, rosé, Pinot noir, Cabernet-Merlot) over a 12-week education/training period. Consumers (n = 133) completed a wine survey and evaluated the wines during the first and twelfth week of a university wine course, consisting of wine education and sensory training. Consumers provided hedonic (degree-of-liking) and confidence (degree-of-sureness) ratings for the visual, aroma and flavor characteristics of the wines, on 9-point and 5-point scales, respectively, before and after the 12-week wine course. Consumers were classified by gender (female, male), age and ethnicity. Kruskal Wallis, Mann-Whitney, Friedman, Wilcoxon Signed Rank and Chi-square tests and Spearman correlation coefficients were used to explore the effects of education/training on hedonic and confidence ratings. In general, consumers’ hedonic (visual, aroma, flavor) ratings increased significantly with education/training for the white and rosé wines (Ehrenfelser, Chardonnay, rosé) over the 12-week period. In contrast, consumer confidence increased substantially for all wine types. Surveys revealed, for the three largest subgroups of consumers (North American (NA), n = 38; European (EU), n = 31; Asian, n = 54), that NA and EU consumers had significantly higher frequency-of-purchase, frequency-of-purchase of Canadian wine, frequency-of-consumption and self-rated wine knowledge than Asian consumers. However, Asian consumers were willing to pay more for a bottle of wine compared to NA and EU consumers. This research provided insight into the millennial consumers and explored the nature and magnitude of changes in hedonic and confidence ratings with wine education/training. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Consumer behavior and beverage choice)
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1441 KiB  
Article
Tune That Beer! Listening for the Pitch of Beer
by Felipe Reinoso Carvalho, Qian (Janice) Wang, Brecht De Causmaecker, Kris Steenhaut, Raymond Van Ee and Charles Spence
Beverages 2016, 2(4), 31; https://doi.org/10.3390/beverages2040031 - 17 Nov 2016
Cited by 31 | Viewed by 11093
Abstract
We report two experiments designed to assess the key sensory drivers underlying people’s association of a specific auditory pitch with Belgian beer. In particular, we assessed if people would rely mostly on the differences between beers in terms of their relative alcohol strength, [...] Read more.
We report two experiments designed to assess the key sensory drivers underlying people’s association of a specific auditory pitch with Belgian beer. In particular, we assessed if people would rely mostly on the differences between beers in terms of their relative alcohol strength, or on the contrast between the most salient taste attributes of the different beers. In Experiment 1, the participants rated three bitter beers (differing in alcohol content), using a narrow range of pitch choices (50–500 Hz). The results revealed that the beers were all rated around the same pitch (Mean = 232 Hz, SD = 136 Hz). In Experiment 2, a wider range of pitch choices (50–1500 Hz), along with the addition of a much sweeter beer, revealed that people mostly tend to match beers with bitter-range profiles at significantly lower pitch ranges when compared to the average pitch of a much sweeter beer. These results therefore demonstrate that clear differences in taste attributes lead to distinctly different matches in terms of pitch. Having demonstrated the robustness of the basic crossmodal matching, future research should aim to uncover the basis for such matches and better understand the perceptual effects of matching/non-matching tones on the multisensory drinking experience. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Consumer behavior and beverage choice)
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1105 KiB  
Article
Bottled vs. Canned Beer: Do They Really Taste Different?
by Andrew Barnett, Carlos Velasco and Charles Spence
Beverages 2016, 2(4), 25; https://doi.org/10.3390/beverages2040025 - 22 Sep 2016
Cited by 34 | Viewed by 24433
Abstract
People often say that beer tastes better from a bottle than from a can. However, one can ask how reliable this perceived difference is across consumers. And, if reliable, one can further ask whether it is a purely psychological phenomenon (associated with the [...] Read more.
People often say that beer tastes better from a bottle than from a can. However, one can ask how reliable this perceived difference is across consumers. And, if reliable, one can further ask whether it is a purely psychological phenomenon (associated with the influence of packaging on taste perception), or whether instead it reflects some more mundane physico-chemical interaction between the packaging material (or packing procedure/process) and the contents. Two experiments were conducted in order to address these questions. In the main experiment, 151 participants at the 2016 Edinburgh Science Festival were served a special ‘craft beer’ in a plastic cup. The beer was either poured from a bottle or can (a between-participants experimental design was used). The participants were encouraged to pick up the packaging in order to inspect the label before tasting the beer. The participants rated the perceived taste, quality, and freshness of the beer, as well as their likelihood of purchase, and estimated the price. All of the beer came from the same batch (specifically a Session IPA from Barney’s Brewery in Edinburgh). None of the participants were familiar with this particular craft brew. Nevertheless, those who evaluated the beer from the bottle rated it as tasting better than those who rated the beer served from the can. Having demonstrated such a perceptual difference (in terms of taste), we then went on to investigate whether people would prefer one packaging format over the other when the beer from bottle and can was served blind to a new group of participants (i.e., when the participants did not know the packaging material). The participants in this control study (n = 29) were asked which beer they preferred. Alternatively, they could state that the two samples tasted the same. No sign of a consistent preference was obtained under such blind tasting conditions. Explanations for the psychological impact of the packaging format, in terms of differences in packaging weight (between tin and glass), and/or prior associations of quality with specific packaging materials/formats (what some have chosen to call ‘image molds’), are discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Consumer behavior and beverage choice)
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1551 KiB  
Article
Drivers of Acceptance of a New Beverage in Europe
by Ana Patricia Silva, Maria Isabel Franco, Cissé Mady, Dominique Pallet, Keith Tomlins, Ben Bennett, Manuela Pintado and Miguel Sottomayor
Beverages 2016, 2(2), 12; https://doi.org/10.3390/beverages2020012 - 25 May 2016
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 8613
Abstract
One of the challenges of studying food consumption behavior is to identify the drivers of choice for a food product. This is particularly important to design and develop new foods for which no previous information is available. Hibiscus sabdariffa L. (Bissap) is an [...] Read more.
One of the challenges of studying food consumption behavior is to identify the drivers of choice for a food product. This is particularly important to design and develop new foods for which no previous information is available. Hibiscus sabdariffa L. (Bissap) is an herbaceous plant and an important source of vitamins, minerals, and bioactive compounds, which confer a number of potential health benefits to derived products. The consumption of Bissap in beverage form is widespread in Africa and Asia, but not yet in Europe. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the main drivers of consumer acceptance of a traditional African beverage made from Bissap to which they had not been previously exposed. First, three focus groups (n = 22) were performed in Portugal to characterize the sensory profile of four Bissap beverages, to reveal perceptions and attitudes towards Bissap beverages, and to identify potential choice attributes. Subsequently, a full-profile conjoint analysis (n = 99) was performed, where consumers evaluated 37 Bissap beverage profiles, aiming to estimate choice attribute importance and to identify relevant market segments. Focus group findings showed that consumers would choose Bissap because they perceived as a healthy choice, and due to its novelty. The conjoint study showed an ideal profile for a Bissap beverage costing €0.99/L, <18 kcal/100 mL, packaged in Tetra-pack, light red color, and containing labeling information about antioxidants and Bissap. Four clusters of consumers were identified: price sensitive, body concerned, packaging attracted, and demanding, highlighting the most influential choice attributes: price, calories, and packaging. Findings provide useful guidance for new product development of an African product in the European lifestyle. Results might be useful from a nutraceutical point of view and to the food/beverages industry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Consumer behavior and beverage choice)
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