Influence of Visual Quality and Cultural Background on Consumer Apple Preferences: An Eye-Tracking Study with Chinese and Hungarian Consumers
Using eye-tracking technology, the proposed study investigates how customers visually evaluate apples varieties and apple defects and how these evaluations affect their purchasing decisions. Three aspects were examined in this study: apple variety, defect severity, and cultural background. Idared, G...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/2/773 |
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| author | Xu Cao Zsuzsanna Horváth-Mezőfi Zoltán Sasvár Gergő Szabó Attila Gere Géza Hitka Dalma Radványi |
| author_facet | Xu Cao Zsuzsanna Horváth-Mezőfi Zoltán Sasvár Gergő Szabó Attila Gere Géza Hitka Dalma Radványi |
| author_sort | Xu Cao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Using eye-tracking technology, the proposed study investigates how customers visually evaluate apples varieties and apple defects and how these evaluations affect their purchasing decisions. Three aspects were examined in this study: apple variety, defect severity, and cultural background. Idared, Golden Delicious Yellow, and Golden Delicious Green apple varieties with increasing degrees of bruising were shown to Chinese and Hungarian participants. The findings show that apple variety had no significant effect on gaze patterns, whereas cultural background had a considerable impact on visual attention measures. The most important element in grabbing and retaining customer attention was the severity of the defect, which was measured by area. The “Threshold of Rejection”, which characterizes consumer tolerance for Apple defects, is introduced in the study. Furthermore, a polynomial regression model was created to predict the probability of repurchasing an apple depending on its visual quality (level of bruising). These results provide useful information for marketing plans, quality assurance, and comprehending customer behavior in the fresh produce sector. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8c4fce67400f4918a2c0ec3bf5270e18 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-8c4fce67400f4918a2c0ec3bf5270e182025-01-24T13:20:46ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172025-01-0115277310.3390/app15020773Influence of Visual Quality and Cultural Background on Consumer Apple Preferences: An Eye-Tracking Study with Chinese and Hungarian ConsumersXu Cao0Zsuzsanna Horváth-Mezőfi1Zoltán Sasvár2Gergő Szabó3Attila Gere4Géza Hitka5Dalma Radványi6Institute of Food Science and Technology, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Villányi út 29-31, H-1118 Budapest, HungaryInstitute of Food Science and Technology, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Villányi út 29-31, H-1118 Budapest, HungaryInstitute of Food Science and Technology, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Villányi út 29-31, H-1118 Budapest, HungaryInstitute of Food Science and Technology, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Villányi út 29-31, H-1118 Budapest, HungaryInstitute of Food Science and Technology, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Villányi út 29-31, H-1118 Budapest, HungaryInstitute of Food Science and Technology, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Villányi út 29-31, H-1118 Budapest, HungaryDepartment of Hospitality, Faculty of Commerce, Hospitality and Tourism, Budapest Business University, 9-11 Alkotmány út, H-1054 Budapest, HungaryUsing eye-tracking technology, the proposed study investigates how customers visually evaluate apples varieties and apple defects and how these evaluations affect their purchasing decisions. Three aspects were examined in this study: apple variety, defect severity, and cultural background. Idared, Golden Delicious Yellow, and Golden Delicious Green apple varieties with increasing degrees of bruising were shown to Chinese and Hungarian participants. The findings show that apple variety had no significant effect on gaze patterns, whereas cultural background had a considerable impact on visual attention measures. The most important element in grabbing and retaining customer attention was the severity of the defect, which was measured by area. The “Threshold of Rejection”, which characterizes consumer tolerance for Apple defects, is introduced in the study. Furthermore, a polynomial regression model was created to predict the probability of repurchasing an apple depending on its visual quality (level of bruising). These results provide useful information for marketing plans, quality assurance, and comprehending customer behavior in the fresh produce sector.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/2/773eye-trackingcross-culturalthreshold of rejectionapplepostharvest |
| spellingShingle | Xu Cao Zsuzsanna Horváth-Mezőfi Zoltán Sasvár Gergő Szabó Attila Gere Géza Hitka Dalma Radványi Influence of Visual Quality and Cultural Background on Consumer Apple Preferences: An Eye-Tracking Study with Chinese and Hungarian Consumers Applied Sciences eye-tracking cross-cultural threshold of rejection apple postharvest |
| title | Influence of Visual Quality and Cultural Background on Consumer Apple Preferences: An Eye-Tracking Study with Chinese and Hungarian Consumers |
| title_full | Influence of Visual Quality and Cultural Background on Consumer Apple Preferences: An Eye-Tracking Study with Chinese and Hungarian Consumers |
| title_fullStr | Influence of Visual Quality and Cultural Background on Consumer Apple Preferences: An Eye-Tracking Study with Chinese and Hungarian Consumers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Influence of Visual Quality and Cultural Background on Consumer Apple Preferences: An Eye-Tracking Study with Chinese and Hungarian Consumers |
| title_short | Influence of Visual Quality and Cultural Background on Consumer Apple Preferences: An Eye-Tracking Study with Chinese and Hungarian Consumers |
| title_sort | influence of visual quality and cultural background on consumer apple preferences an eye tracking study with chinese and hungarian consumers |
| topic | eye-tracking cross-cultural threshold of rejection apple postharvest |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/2/773 |
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