The role of information on consumer sensory, hedonic and wellbeing perception of sugar-reduced products: Case study with orange/pomegranate juice

Highlights

• Consumers evaluated orange/pomegranate juices under blind and informed conditions.

• Hedonic and sensory discrimination of samples increased with information.

• Information influenced consumer perceived wellbeing.

• Wellbeing measurements provided complementary insights to overall liking scores.

Abstract

Reformulation of industrialized products has been recognized as one of the most effective strategies to reduce sugar intake and improve public health. Information about product reformulation can negatively affect consumer hedonic perception as a negative relationship between tastiness and healthfulness exists. In this context, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of information about sugar reduction and the use of sweeteners on consumer hedonic, sensory and wellbeing perception, using orange/pomegranate as case study. Samples of orange/pomegranate juice with different sweeteners (no added sugar, sugar, sucralose, stevia and monk fruit extract) were evaluated by 196 consumers under blind or informed conditions, following a between-subjects experimental design. Consumers in the informed group were presented the juice samples with their corresponding bottle displayed on a computer screen, including information about sugar content using the traffic-light system, claims on no added sugar and the presence of natural sweeteners. Consumers had to evaluate their overall liking and answer two CATA questions, related to sensory and wellbeing perception. Information increased consumer sensory and hedonic discrimination of the samples, particularly for the juice sweetened with stevia. Information influenced consumer perception of physical health and emotional aspects of wellbeing. Results from the present work suggest that the influence of information about nutritional characteristics of products and reformulation strategies seems to be modulated by the degree of difference between consumers’ sensory perception of reformulated products and their regular counterpart.

Introduction

Simple sugars account for a considerable proportion of total energy intake and have been linked to several negative health consequences, including obesity, type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease (Johnson et al., 2009, Kearns et al., 2016, TeMorenga, Mallard, & Mann, 2013; Vio & Uauy, 2007). For this reason, several health organizations have recommended to reduce the intake of sugars (Johnson et al., 2009, Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition, 2014, World Health Organization and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2003).

Considering that sugar is added to a large proportion of processed foods, one of the most cost-effective strategies for decreasing sugar consumption is to gradually reduce the added sugar content of these products (MacGregor and Hashem, 2014, Vio and Uauy, 2007). The main disadvantage of this approach is the time needed to achieve reductions in sugar intake with relevant effect on health. For example, according to Ma, He, Yin, Hashem & MacGregor (2016), five years would be necessary to reduce 40% the sugar concentration of sugar-sweetened beverages, which would lead to a reduction in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in adults of 1% and 2.1%, respectively.

An alternative strategy to reduce sugar intake is to partially or totally substitute added sugar by low-calorie sweeteners in food products (DuBois & Prakash, 2012). Although artificial sweeteners, such as saccharine, aspartame, sucralose and acesulfame K, are still the most common and widespread in the food industry, mainly in low-calorie products, concerns about their safety and their potential health implications have been raised (Carocho, Barreiro, Morales, & Ferreira, 2014). This has led to an increased interest in natural sweeteners extracted from plants, such as stevia, thaumatin and monk fruit extract (Carocho, Morales, & Ferreira, 2015).

One of the main challenges for reducing the added sugar content of food products is related to changes in their flavour and texture, which are key determinants of consumer hedonic reaction and influence product success in the marketplace (van Raaij, Hendriksen, & Verhagen, 2009). Most consumers think that products cannot be made more healthful without compromising their sensory characteristics (Lähteenmäki et al., 2010, Nørgaard and Brunsø, 2009, Raghunathan et al., 2006). In this sense, Markey, Lovegrove, and Methven (2015) have recently reported that across a wide range of product categories, a high proportion of consumers prefer conventional products to their sugar-reduced counterparts.

Expectations about the sensory and hedonic characteristics of products strongly influence consumer perception and decisions, both consciously and subconsciously (Piqueras-Fiszman & Spence, 2016). Expectations are created from previous experiences and product information, and can lead consumers to believe that products have certain sensory characteristics or that they will generate a specific level of pleasure (Deliza & MacFie, 1996). An inverse relationship between consumer perceived healthfulness and tastiness has been reported in several studies (Bialkova et al., 2016, Fenko et al., 2016, Raghunathan et al., 2006). Therefore, information about sugar reduction or replacement by high-intensity sweeteners can negatively affect consumer hedonic perception (Bialkova et al., 2016, Raghunathan et al., 2006).

Package represents one of the main sources of information for consumers and largely influences consumer expectations and their purchase decisions (Ampuero and Vila, 2006, Ares and Deliza, 2010, Carrillo et al., 2012, Deliza and MacFie, 1996, Deliza et al., 2003, Schifferstein et al., 2013). Packages, and particularly labels, are increasingly used to convey information about product healthfulness via nutrition information, health claims, quality logos, natural labels, among many others (Hawley et al., 2012, Lähteenmäki, 2013, Verbeke et al., 2009, Wessels et al., 1999). In particular, front-of-pack nutrition labelling schemes, such as the traffic-light system, are increasingly used worldwide to improve consumers’ ability to find and understand nutrition information when making their food choices (Hodgkins et al., 2012). The large amount of information included on labels makes it necessary to investigate how to communicate the characteristics of products in order to encourage informed and healthful food choices (Fenko et al., 2016).

Although consumer sensory and hedonic perception of products has been regarded as a key predictor for food choice (Tuorila, 2007), other aspects of food consumption also play a relevant role in consumers’ decision-making process (Köster, 2009). The need to consider a more holistic view of consumer perception has been extensively recognized in recent years (Andersen and Hyldig, 2015, King and Meiselman, 2010, Meiselman, 2013). In particular, consumer perceived wellbeing has gained growing attention in the field (Meiselman, 2016). In a food-related context, wellbeing has been conceptualized as a multidimensional construct, related to physical health, as well as intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual aspects of food consumption (Ares, de Saldamando, et al., 2015, Ares, Reis, et al., 2015, King et al., 2015). According to McMahon, O’Shea, Tapsell, and Williams (2014), understanding the influence of food on perceived wellbeing can contribute to a better understanding of consumer food choices and to the development of efficient strategies for modifying consumers’ eating patterns (McMahon, Wiliams, & Tapsell, 2010).

In this context, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of information about sugar reduction and the use of natural sweeteners on consumer hedonic, sensory and wellbeing perception, using orange/pomegranate juices as case study. Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) juice has an interesting potential for the development of healthful and functional products due to its anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and antioxidant properties (Ferrari, Maresca, & Ciccarone, 2010). However, pomegranate juice is usually characterized by musty/earthy and vegetable notes, as well as astringent mouthfeel, which can hinder consumer acceptance, particularly for those consumers who are not familiar with this product (Koppel & Chambers IV, 2010). Flavour-flavour learning can be used to increase consumer acceptance of pomegranate by developing a mixed beverage containing a highly liked familiar flavour (Gibson & Brunstrom, 2007). Orange is the most widely accepted flavour worldwide within the fruit juice category (Brazilian Association of Citrus Exporters, 2017), which makes it a good candidate for the development of a mixed juice containing pomegranate.