Taste buds: 1 vs. Curiosity: 0
(A2024-118239)

AUTHORS

Aline Simonetti, Institute for Food and Resource Economics, University of Bonn; Jose Marin-Aguilar, Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes; Dominic Lemken, Institute for Food and Ressource Economics, University of Bonn

ABSTRACT

New products may be important to promote healthier and more sustainable eating. However, consumers’ acceptance of the product determines its market performance. To identify if and how objective factors serve as proxies to forecast acceptance of new products is of great value, as companies cannot easily and directly access subjective factors (e.g., liking) of an entire target market. We assessed the impact of common vs. uncommon ingredients on the acceptance of a new version of a traditional food product. We collected willingness-to-pay (WTP) and -buy (WTB) for new products containing ingredients considered uncommon and common. The results showed higher WTP and WTB for the products with common ingredients. This effect was driven by liking expectations, which were affected by the level of familiarity with the ingredients. Thus, launching new food products with common ingredients in the target market can be a simple strategy to increase the probability of product success.