The role of hedonic liking of new food on emotions: a laboratory study on insect snacks with young Italian participants

Purpose This study investigates the relationship between the hedonic pleasure of trying new food and emotional responses to insect-based bakery products. Design/methodology/approach A laboratory tasting was conducted with 131 Italian high school students in the province of Teramo (Italy). Participants completed a questionnaire to assess their general hedonic liking of new food and ranked the intensity of negative and positive emotions after tasting the food products. Findings The findings show that general hedonic liking of new food significantly influences both negative and positive emotions. In the case of negative emotions, individuals who declared to like trying new food were more likely to experience lower levels of disgust, fearful, worry and distrustful. Meanwhile, in the case of positive emotions, individuals who liked trying new food had a greater probability of feeling higher levels of calm, energy, enthusiasm and contentment. We further found that women were more likely to experience negative emotions (i.e. disgust, fearful and worry) to a higher extent than men. Practical implications The results add useful information about food and marketing research by showing which emotions should be encouraged or avoided in the case of consumers with different degrees of liking new food. Originality/value This study is the first to assess how hedonic liking impacts emotions in the case of an insect-based food.