Mariarosaria Simeone

Purpose: The food tourism sector is increasingly recognized for its considerable ecological impact, yet it also holds significant potential to drive the adoption of sustainable food practices. Processed animal proteins (PAP) derived from insects are being explored as a sustainable alternative in animal feed. Among alternative proteins, products that are processed and familiar in form – such as PAP-fed animal proteins – are more likely to be integrated into tourism offerings with minimal disruption. Design/methodology/approach: This study interviewed 12 experts to explore knowledge, beliefs and perceived risk regarding insect PAPs. Findings: Two dominant and contrasting narratives emerged: the first highlighting insect PAPs' nutritional benefits and sustainability, the other reflecting skepticism especially driven by limited market experience. Results suggests practical implications regarding communication strategies and the integration of AP into hospitality and tourism curricula. Research limitations/implications: Limitations, insights for further research and relevance for the tourism industry are discussed in the article. Originality/value: Stakeholders' beliefs about the use of insect-based processed animal proteins (PAP) in livestock destined for human consumption have been the focus of only limited research.

Purpose: This study examines consumer perception and acceptance of cultured meat, with a particular focus on the differences between developed and developing countries. The objective is to identify the key factors influencing consumer behavior, cultural barriers and economic and environmental motivations that either promote or hinder the adoption of this food innovation. Design/methodology/approach: This study employed a systematic literature review approach to analyze consumer drivers and inhibiting factors influencing the acceptance of cultured meat. This research follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) reporting framework to ensure a transparent and replicable selection process. The dataset was compiled by identifying relevant peer-reviewed full-text articles published in English between 1st January 2014 and 30th April 2024, focusing on consumer perceptions of cultured meat within disciplines such as agriculture, environmental science, social sciences and economics. Findings: In developed countries, cultural values play a crucial role in shaping consumer perceptions of cultured meat: familiarity and neophobia are the most important inhibiting factors in these countries. In more traditional cultures, entrenched dietary habits and a preference for conventional meat contribute to resistance. In developing countries, environmental and food security concerns drive interest in cultured meat, as it is seen as a potential solution to global food supply challenges, whereas food security does not emerge as a driver in developed nations, where access to a stable food supply is generally not a concern. Practical implications: The aim is to provide a comprehensive mapping of the key findings related to the drivers and deterring factors influencing the consumption of cultivated meat, providing insight in order to shape public perception and market adoption of this revolutionary food technology. Originality/value: There are few comprehensive reviews of empirical findings on consumer behavior toward cultured meat, and there is a gap to fill about the distinctions in perceptions between developed and developing countries.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the perception of environmental attributes and food safety in Italy and Spain and how these different perceptions influence the importance of various attributes and certifications related to food. These two countries have a common root and some undeniable similarities, but there are two completely distinct individualities. Three main research questions have, thus, been identified: attention to food safety regarding Italian and Spanish consumers; the role of ecological certifications in the perception of health in the two countries; the role of the brand and the choice of organic products in the perception of food safety. To answer the research questions, a questionnaire was administered, face to face, to a sample of both Spanish consumers and Italian consumers. The analysis of the data collected through the questionnaires was administered using two logistic regressions to identify which variables influence issues concerning the health and safety of food products. A Spanish consumer interested in ecological certifications is also a consumer who is attentive to the safety and health of food consumption. Looking at Italian consumers, it is highly probable that a consumer who assesses ecological certifications positively is also a consumer concerned about food safety, but this probability increases the likelihood this consumer’s choices are guided by brands and frequent consumption of organic products. This research has allowed us to highlight sharp differences in the approach to consumption in these two countries, which, despite similar cultures and the same sensitivity to environmental and food safety issues, exhibit marked differences in the selection of food products.

The Italian export of agri-food products has been increasingly threatened by the unfair use of misleading Italian symbols (such as the national flag or the green-white-red colors) by non-Italian producers. This research paper investigated what English and Spanish consumers know about “Made in Italy” food, and their attitude towards Italian appearance food products. Primary data were collected in Spain and England, and a probit model was used to identify the determinants of consumers’ vulnerability to misleading Italian symbols. We found that merely having Italian symbols on the package might lead almost half of the consumers in the sample to consider food as Made in Italy, regardless of the actual origin. This result confirms the severity of the problem. The econometric model provides suggestions for public actions to mitigate the issue.

The main objective of this research paper is to understand consumer knowledge and perception of insects for food. Primary data was collected using a questionnaire conducted in Rome, and the data was analysed using a probit model in order to understand consumers’ attitudes to include insects as a sustainable solution to meat consumption in their diet. We connected the participants with a willingness to consume insects with those that are critical, informed, and concerned about the environment. This study shows that insects’ consumption and social acceptance is very low even for people who have a greater sensitivity to sustainable diets. Suggestions are included to improve the communication of this food type to raise awareness in the consumers’ minds. This research continues the debate on sustainability and global food security.

Consumers’ purchasing choices are no longer based only on economic factors but also on ethical reasons related to environmental sustainability and food safety. However, nutritional information on food labels is underused by consumers. Often the lack or incompleteness of information available on the market obstructs the complex transition towards sustainable consumption patterns. This empirical study analysed a sample of 359 consumers from an area in Southern Italy (city of Naples) to identify homogeneous consumer clusters with respect to the assessment of the level of consumer attention to sustainable environmental, social behaviours in daily life, and also to safety attributes. The most important sources of information influencing the consumers’ choices, food safety knowledge, and future purchasing behaviour were analysed. The research sample was self-selected, and the questionnaire for the survey was administrated through a non-probability sample from a reasoned choice. The results indicate that the ideal solution is a five-cluster partition that confirms a good level of attention to intrinsic attributes, in particular food expiry, transparency of food information, food traceability, and seller confidence. In addition, the research could provide an opportunity to consider collaborative actions between policy makers and industries to increase consumer awareness of environmental attributes.

In this paper, we investigated educated millennials’ evaluation of credence attributes in food products containing genetically modified organisms (GMO products). Our goal is to assess whether beliefs about GMO products are determined by scientific knowledge alone or if they are affected by other factors such as trust in information providers and use of social media. The focus on millennials is motivated by the increasing relevance of this social group in the public debate and by their extensive use of social media. We surveyed a sample of 215 Italian college students, confronting them with questions about safety, environmental impact and ethical issues in GMO product consumption. Using an ordered probit regression model, we found that educated millennials build their beliefs using a mix of scientific knowledge and trust in information providers. The role of the two drivers depended on the issue considered. Scientific knowledge drove beliefs in health claims, while trust in information providers was a driving factor in almost all claims. After controlling for trust effects, we did not find evidence of impact of confidence in the reliability of traditional and social media on beliefs. This result contradicts previous literature.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore food safety attitudes among a sample of Spanish consumers and determine which variables, among those studied, most affect the probability of the consumer being attentive to food safety.Design/methodology/approach: The study was conducted using a logit model. From the questionnaire 20 binary category variables were identified. Having selected the variable “Are you worried about safety food” as a dependent variable, the authors used binary logistic regression (Aldrich and Nelson, 1984; Borooah, 2002) to ascertain in what way the remaining 19 variables affect the likelihood of the consumer being particularly attentive to the healthiness and safety of food purchased.Findings: The probability of the consumer being particularly attentive to food healthiness and safety, for the sample in question, is higher in consumers who stated that they were familiar with organic products, those who are attentive to fat contents in foods and those who value the presence of quality certification positively.Research limitations/implications: Future research into Spanish consumers with the same methodology should target a larger sample in several Spanish cities.Originality/value: This paper investigates not only Spanish consumer attitudes to food safety, but also how other variables can influence the probability of the consumer being concerned about food safety. This approach may be very useful for food companies to determine what strategies to adopt to attract the category of consumers who lend special importance to the food safety variable in their purchases.