Research

Research Themes

I find it helpful to have a framework that puts a context around my research. Within this framework, the phrase “understanding the complexity of consumers’ food-related experiences” is a summary statement that captures the essence of my work. As indicated by the research themes I view the term “food-related experiences” very broadly. They are not the only ones that are relevant for research aimed at understanding the complexity of consumers’ food-related experiences, simply the ones I focus on. I have deliberately left out details about some aspects of my work, and this page is therefore best read in conjunction with Research | Ongoing Projects and Collaborations.

Attitudes and Behaviour

Within the theme of ‘Attitudes and behaviour’, behavioural research is what has my interest at the moment. I am particularly interested in methodology that enables us to measure behaviour, be it qualitative or quantitative. I have begun collaborating with colleagues trained in ethnographic research and, although I was always a supporter of multi-method research as a means of addressing a complex research question, the in-depth insights that can be gained by spending a long time together with consumers one-on-one has left an impression.

Having said that, quantitative methods will always be close to my heart. One that I have been working with recently is stated (or discrete) choice experimentation. As an approach to research, asking people to make choices appeals to me, since this is a behaviour we all do many times on a daily basis. The theoretical foundations of RUT and the powerful modelling framework of Random Parameter Logit means that very complex, and hence more realistic, experiments can be conducted. And, I believe that realism is a key aspect of validity in research.

Revealed preference data is not something I have worked with to date, but I do expect to do so in the future, in fact, I am keen to do so. I have also been active in research using experimental markets. As a technique it has significant pros and cons, but the fact that it overcomes the hypothetical nature of many types of research responses it one of its main advantages from a perspective of studying consumer behaviour. I think there is scope to do some work in learning more about how consumers taking part in experimental markets form their WTP estimates, and if you are interested in collaborating in this respect, please get in contact.

Non-sensory influences

This theme is almost a ‘catch all’ for a very large number of influences on consumers‘ food-related experiences. It is not possible to be deeply engaged in all the different factors at one time and while I in the past was very focused on factors such as convenience and technology (e.g., genetic modification), these have given way to a focus on context effects. I work with different colleagues on different aspects of this vast topic and this really suit me as I in this manner get to put into practice my philosophy of interdisciplinary and multi-method research.

I am interested in both location and situational influences, and for the former it is interesting to think not only about how parameters such as selection, acceptability and intake of a food/beverage changes with location, but also about other steps in the food provisioning process. One that has not been given much consideration is acquisition, that is, influences the impact on choices made, for example in the supermarket. Retailers are interested in understanding methods such as ‘3 for the price of 2’ are in regard to sales volume, but from a CB perspective it is interesting to think about how the store environment influence on purchases made, which in turn have follow-on effects to what foods one’s diet actually consist on.

Sensory perception and acceptance

The theme ‘sensory perception and acceptance’ adds to my ability to understand consumers food-related experiences primarily through its focus on the physical products and how consumers perceive the sensory characteristics of foods/beverages. I consider myself to be a consumer behaviour scientist and as such in-depth knowledge of different foods/beverages is not my focus. However, I believe that the physical product entity is integral to comprehensive understanding of the complexity of consumer’ food-related experiences. What the product tastes like and how much it is liked are factors that cannot be ignored.

My current activities in this theme centre on measurement of sensory attributes and of acceptance/preference. Linked with my passion for research methodology I am interested in the evaluation of new scaling methodologies, among these best-worst scaling. Learning about this methodology’s pros and cons and being able to make recommendations to others about best practice for its use is one area that I am currently active in. Please get in contact if you are also working with best-worst scaling.

As a new area of research, I am at the moment, through my work at HortResearch also becoming involved in the genetic basis of odour perception and how individuals’ ability (or lack hereof) to smell certain flavour compounds impact on the degree of pleasure (liking) they derive form different foods.

Individual differences

This theme is not so much a separate focus on my work, but rather an integral component based on the notion that differences between people is one moderating factor in understanding their food related experiences. It is one more thing that adds to the complexity of consumer behaviour.

Through the years I have used a variety of traits including private body consciousness, need for cognition, food neophobia, food involvement, variety seeking tendency, value consciousness, product involvement, deal proneness and need for cognitive closure. My experiences have been that they tend moderate acceptance, attitudes and behaviour more so than be a key factor in predicting the focal variable. However, as the study of consumer behaviour is ultimately seeking to build theory, knowledge about a theory’s boundary conditions are very valuable. Where appropriate, I will therefore continue to incorporate individual differences in my research.

In this regard, one area I hope to be more active in, in the future is that of individual differences that influence on how consumers engage with research tasks and process the information we ask them to respond to, be it acceptance of product stimuli or completing a choice experiment. If you are interested in the latter, I would welcome hearing from you.

A majority of the work relating to individual differences focuses on traits, that is, stable aspects of personality. For example, level of need for cognition of involvement in a product category such as wine. However, differences can also be situationally determined and transient. For example, I know that my level of involvement in the process of choosing a bottle of wine differs from one choice occasion to another. I may be more involved when choosing in a restaurant than in the grocery shop, but even in the retail environment my level of involvement may differ depending on my mood, whether my pay has just gone in, whom I’ll be drinking the wine with, etc. Capturing transient states is something that interests me, as I think it is an important aspect of consumer behaviour. However, I am yet to begin thinking carefully about a specific project on this topic.

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