How do Spanish consumers perceive different lettuce cultivation systems? Insights from explicit and implicit methods

This study explores consumer perceptions of different agricultural systems to understand why some are regarded more favourably than others are. Five agricultural systems were compared in the context of lettuce cultivation: vertical indoor agriculture, small-scale local agriculture (local/small), hig...

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Main Authors: Juan Diego Torres, Sara R. Jaeger, Patricia Puerta, Amparo Tárrega
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:Applied Food Research
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772502225000198
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author Juan Diego Torres
Sara R. Jaeger
Patricia Puerta
Amparo Tárrega
author_facet Juan Diego Torres
Sara R. Jaeger
Patricia Puerta
Amparo Tárrega
author_sort Juan Diego Torres
collection DOAJ
description This study explores consumer perceptions of different agricultural systems to understand why some are regarded more favourably than others are. Five agricultural systems were compared in the context of lettuce cultivation: vertical indoor agriculture, small-scale local agriculture (local/small), high-tech greenhouses, urban community gardens, and industrial agriculture. Given the lack of knowledge among consumers about agricultural production, images and brief descriptions of the different systems were used as research stimuli. Explicit and implicit responses (as determined by eye tracking and facial coding) were recorded from 105 Spanish consumers. Local/small agriculture was the most favourably regarded of all aspects under consideration. Urban community gardens were the second most positively evaluated of the five agricultural systems; however, lettuce produced in this system was perceived as less safe to eat. Conversely, lettuce cultivated in high-tech greenhouses is regarded as safer to consume, yet this method of agriculture is also perceived as less sustainable. The emotional response was characterised by low intensity, with a notable exception in the case of vertical indoor farming, which elicited a stronger surprise reaction due to the limited familiarity of consumers with this farming system. Further research should include additional perceptions, such as naturalness and freshness, and analyse individual consumer responses to identify further differences among agricultural systems.
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spelling doaj-art-58de4c5703df45e694d0eb5a2e94111e2025-01-22T05:44:23ZengElsevierApplied Food Research2772-50222025-06-0151100709How do Spanish consumers perceive different lettuce cultivation systems? Insights from explicit and implicit methodsJuan Diego Torres0Sara R. Jaeger1Patricia Puerta2Amparo Tárrega3Instituto de Agroquímica y Tecnología de Alimentos (IATA-CSIC), Agustín Escardino, 7, 46980 Paterna, Valencia, Spain; Facultad de Ciencias Farmacéuticas y Alimentarias, Universidad de Antioquia, Calle 67 No 53-108, Ciudad Universitaria, Medellín 050010, ColombiaDepartment of Food Science, Aarhus University, Agro Food Park, 8200 Aarhus N, DenmarkInstituto de Agroquímica y Tecnología de Alimentos (IATA-CSIC), Agustín Escardino, 7, 46980 Paterna, Valencia, SpainInstituto de Agroquímica y Tecnología de Alimentos (IATA-CSIC), Agustín Escardino, 7, 46980 Paterna, Valencia, Spain; Corresponding author.This study explores consumer perceptions of different agricultural systems to understand why some are regarded more favourably than others are. Five agricultural systems were compared in the context of lettuce cultivation: vertical indoor agriculture, small-scale local agriculture (local/small), high-tech greenhouses, urban community gardens, and industrial agriculture. Given the lack of knowledge among consumers about agricultural production, images and brief descriptions of the different systems were used as research stimuli. Explicit and implicit responses (as determined by eye tracking and facial coding) were recorded from 105 Spanish consumers. Local/small agriculture was the most favourably regarded of all aspects under consideration. Urban community gardens were the second most positively evaluated of the five agricultural systems; however, lettuce produced in this system was perceived as less safe to eat. Conversely, lettuce cultivated in high-tech greenhouses is regarded as safer to consume, yet this method of agriculture is also perceived as less sustainable. The emotional response was characterised by low intensity, with a notable exception in the case of vertical indoor farming, which elicited a stronger surprise reaction due to the limited familiarity of consumers with this farming system. Further research should include additional perceptions, such as naturalness and freshness, and analyse individual consumer responses to identify further differences among agricultural systems.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772502225000198Consumer researchSustainabilityAgricultural systemsLettuceSpain
spellingShingle Juan Diego Torres
Sara R. Jaeger
Patricia Puerta
Amparo Tárrega
How do Spanish consumers perceive different lettuce cultivation systems? Insights from explicit and implicit methods
Applied Food Research
Consumer research
Sustainability
Agricultural systems
Lettuce
Spain
title How do Spanish consumers perceive different lettuce cultivation systems? Insights from explicit and implicit methods
title_full How do Spanish consumers perceive different lettuce cultivation systems? Insights from explicit and implicit methods
title_fullStr How do Spanish consumers perceive different lettuce cultivation systems? Insights from explicit and implicit methods
title_full_unstemmed How do Spanish consumers perceive different lettuce cultivation systems? Insights from explicit and implicit methods
title_short How do Spanish consumers perceive different lettuce cultivation systems? Insights from explicit and implicit methods
title_sort how do spanish consumers perceive different lettuce cultivation systems insights from explicit and implicit methods
topic Consumer research
Sustainability
Agricultural systems
Lettuce
Spain
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772502225000198
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AT patriciapuerta howdospanishconsumersperceivedifferentlettucecultivationsystemsinsightsfromexplicitandimplicitmethods
AT amparotarrega howdospanishconsumersperceivedifferentlettucecultivationsystemsinsightsfromexplicitandimplicitmethods