Browsing by Subject "neofobia"

With the renewal of the EU's novel food legislation, insects will become a legal foodstuff in the near future, also in Finland. Insects are a potential source for ecological and ethical production of animal proteins. Interestingly, insect food causes a lot of disgust and fear in Finnish food culture, but also enthusiasm and interest. Previous studies have shown that insect food and food choices. The aim of this thesis is to gain a further understanding of Finnish consumers' attitudes towards insect food appearing in the Finnish food market. The data were acquired through internet discussions and expert interviews. The purpose of using two different data-sets was to provide a further understanding of the perceptions and experiences of approving and rejecting insect food intake, both from consumers' and experts' viewpoints. In addition, the aim was to obtain further information on the approval of insect acceptance now and in the future. The results show that the Finnish consumers' Internet discussions about insect food are very polarized. Some people reject the insects without any hesitation, but interest in the matter is also noticeable. Experiences of consumers and experts show that exposure to insect food is significant for its acceptance. Results of the study indicate that insect tasting is a success in Finland, and for the future it is possible for insect food to have its own consumer market. From the expert perspective, the "approving consumer" is still a mystery, therefore additional research is needed for example, in tasting events, to provide a clearer picture of which consumers are willing to adopt insects in their diet. The results confirm the views of previous research that hedonistic thinking patterns are ultimately stronger than those for ecological or ethical values, regarding insect food.