title: The effect of communication and implicit associations on consuming insects: An experiment in Denmark and Italy.
abstract: It has been widely noted that the introduction of insects in Westerns' diet might be a promising path towards a more sustainable food consumption. However, Westerns' are almost disgusted and sceptical about the eating of insects. In the current paper we report the results of an experiment conducted in two European countries-Denmark and Italy-different for food culture and familiarity with the topic of eating insects. We investigated the possibility to foster people's willingness to eat insect-based food through communication, also comparing messages based on individual vs. societal benefits of the eating of insects. Communication proved to be effective on intention and behaviour, and the societal message appeared to be more robust over time. The communication effect is significant across nation, gender, and previous knowledge about the topic. In addition, we investigated the impact of non-conscious negative associations with insects on the choice to eat vs. not eat insect-based food. Implicit attitudes proved to be a powerful factor in relation to behaviour, yet they did not impede the effectiveness of communication.
authors: Department of Agriculture, University of Napoli Federico II, via Università 96, 80055, Portici, NA, Italy. Electronic address: verneau@unina.it.
authors: Fabio
authors: F
authors: Verneau
authors: Department of Political Sciences, University of Napoli Federico II, via Rodinò 22, 80138, Napoli, NA, Italy. Electronic address: francesco.labarbera@unina.it.
authors: Francesco
authors: F
authors: La Barbera
authors: Department of Management, Aarhus University, Bartholins Allé 10, building 1328, DK-8000, Aarhus C, Denmark. Electronic address: kolle@badm.au.dk.
authors: Susanne
authors: S
authors: Kolle
authors: Department of Agriculture, University of Napoli Federico II, via Università 96, 80055, Portici, NA, Italy. Electronic address: mario.amato2@unina.it.
authors: Mario
authors: M
authors: Amato
authors: Department of Agriculture, University of Napoli Federico II, via Università 96, 80055, Portici, NA, Italy. Electronic address: agriqual@unina.it.
authors: Teresa
authors: T
authors: Del Giudice
authors: Department of Management, Aarhus University, Bartholins Allé 10, building 1328, DK-8000, Aarhus C, Denmark. Electronic address: klg@mgmt.au.dk.
authors: Klaus
authors: K
authors: Grunert
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001244:Association; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003142:Communication; D003718:Denmark; D004435:Eating / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007313:Insecta; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Communication; Consumer; Entomophagy; Implicit association test; Insects