Consumer categorization of plant-based dishes: implications for promoting vegetable consumption

Strategies to increase vegetable consumption that go beyond their health benefits and the recommendation to consume a specific number of portions a day are necessary. In this sense, a more in-depth understanding of what consumers consider as “vegetables” is of interest, as it can highlight possible mismatches between guidelines and everyday experiences and contribute to the design of public campaigns and interventions. In this context, the aim of the study were: to explore how the plant-based dish category is represented for consumers, to evaluate differences among consumers with different familiarity towards vegetables, to identify the sensory properties that drive typicality and expected liking, and to investigate the relationship between typicality of the dishes and their expected liking and sensory characteristics. One hundred and twenty three consumers were considered for the study. Consumers were characterized for their level of familiarity toward vegetables and pulses and through two psycho-attitudinal questionnaires: Food Neophobia Scale and Health and Taste Attitudes Questionnaire. A total of 80 pictures of plant-based dishes were evaluated to assess the expected liking, healthiness and preparation level of each dish. Consumers were asked to rate and the typicality of the dishes by rating their agreement with the sentence “This is a plant-based dish”. In addition, the sensory properties characterizing each dish were evaluated using Check-All-That-Apply question. Results indicated a graded structure of the plant-based dish category, with some category members more typical than others. Specific recipe typologies, such as salads and boiled vegetables, were perceived as more typical than others, such as soups and fried vegetables. Expected sensory attributes were found to influence the typicality of a dish. The attributes Bitter, Green, Not very intense flavor, Orange, Sour and Watery positively influenced typicality, while Brown and Creamy negatively influenced it. Typicality affected expected liking for the dishes but its influence depended on consumers’ level of familiarity toward vegetables and pulses. In fact, among consumers with a low level of familiarity, the lower the typicality, the higher the expected liking. A less strong association was found among consumers with a high level of familiarity. These results stress that promotion of vegetable consumption targeted to vegetables dislikers should therefore consider their representation of the category, in order to limit the exposure to features with a negative hedonic value.