Agri-Food By-Products as Ingredients: Exploring Purchase Intentions Among a Sample of Italian Consumers
Consumer perceptions of upcycled foods, as well as the determinants of food choices, are still not well understood. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of psychological and personal traits on purchase intention (PI) towards upcycled foods of Italian consumers. Additionally, willingness...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Foods |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/15/2664 |
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| author | Maria Di Cairano Nicola Condelli Angela Lomonaco Fernanda Galgano |
| author_facet | Maria Di Cairano Nicola Condelli Angela Lomonaco Fernanda Galgano |
| author_sort | Maria Di Cairano |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Consumer perceptions of upcycled foods, as well as the determinants of food choices, are still not well understood. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of psychological and personal traits on purchase intention (PI) towards upcycled foods of Italian consumers. Additionally, willingness to try (WTT), willingness to buy (WTB), and willingness to pay (WTP) for yogurt, bread, and biscuits made with by-products, namely, hazelnut skin and grape pomace powder, were collected. A web-based survey involving 505 consumers was conducted, and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to evaluate the model. It resulted that food neophobia and attitude towards upcycled foods had a significant impact on PI. In turn, attitude was affected by food neophobia as well as by objective knowledge about food by-products. Unexpectedly, frugality and environmental concern did not affect PI. WTP was product-specific; when WTP was compared to a reference price, it was higher for the yogurt prototype, followed by the bread and biscuits prototypes. Food neophobia affected WTT, WTB, and WTP. This study contributes to providing new insights into the determinants of consumers’ purchase intention for upcycled foods, which are an emerging category of products. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c2ab8107519345b49cdff114220211c2 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2304-8158 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Foods |
| spelling | doaj-art-c2ab8107519345b49cdff114220211c22025-08-20T03:36:31ZengMDPI AGFoods2304-81582025-07-011415266410.3390/foods14152664Agri-Food By-Products as Ingredients: Exploring Purchase Intentions Among a Sample of Italian ConsumersMaria Di Cairano0Nicola Condelli1Angela Lomonaco2Fernanda Galgano3Department of Agricultural, Forestry, Food and Environmental Science, University of Basilicata, Via dell’Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100 Potenza, ItalyDepartment of Agricultural, Forestry, Food and Environmental Science, University of Basilicata, Via dell’Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100 Potenza, ItalyDepartment of Agricultural, Forestry, Food and Environmental Science, University of Basilicata, Via dell’Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100 Potenza, ItalyDepartment of Agricultural, Forestry, Food and Environmental Science, University of Basilicata, Via dell’Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100 Potenza, ItalyConsumer perceptions of upcycled foods, as well as the determinants of food choices, are still not well understood. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of psychological and personal traits on purchase intention (PI) towards upcycled foods of Italian consumers. Additionally, willingness to try (WTT), willingness to buy (WTB), and willingness to pay (WTP) for yogurt, bread, and biscuits made with by-products, namely, hazelnut skin and grape pomace powder, were collected. A web-based survey involving 505 consumers was conducted, and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to evaluate the model. It resulted that food neophobia and attitude towards upcycled foods had a significant impact on PI. In turn, attitude was affected by food neophobia as well as by objective knowledge about food by-products. Unexpectedly, frugality and environmental concern did not affect PI. WTP was product-specific; when WTP was compared to a reference price, it was higher for the yogurt prototype, followed by the bread and biscuits prototypes. Food neophobia affected WTT, WTB, and WTP. This study contributes to providing new insights into the determinants of consumers’ purchase intention for upcycled foods, which are an emerging category of products.https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/15/2664by-productsconsumer attitudefood neophobiaPLS-SEMpurchase intentionupcycled foods |
| spellingShingle | Maria Di Cairano Nicola Condelli Angela Lomonaco Fernanda Galgano Agri-Food By-Products as Ingredients: Exploring Purchase Intentions Among a Sample of Italian Consumers Foods by-products consumer attitude food neophobia PLS-SEM purchase intention upcycled foods |
| title | Agri-Food By-Products as Ingredients: Exploring Purchase Intentions Among a Sample of Italian Consumers |
| title_full | Agri-Food By-Products as Ingredients: Exploring Purchase Intentions Among a Sample of Italian Consumers |
| title_fullStr | Agri-Food By-Products as Ingredients: Exploring Purchase Intentions Among a Sample of Italian Consumers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Agri-Food By-Products as Ingredients: Exploring Purchase Intentions Among a Sample of Italian Consumers |
| title_short | Agri-Food By-Products as Ingredients: Exploring Purchase Intentions Among a Sample of Italian Consumers |
| title_sort | agri food by products as ingredients exploring purchase intentions among a sample of italian consumers |
| topic | by-products consumer attitude food neophobia PLS-SEM purchase intention upcycled foods |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/15/2664 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mariadicairano agrifoodbyproductsasingredientsexploringpurchaseintentionsamongasampleofitalianconsumers AT nicolacondelli agrifoodbyproductsasingredientsexploringpurchaseintentionsamongasampleofitalianconsumers AT angelalomonaco agrifoodbyproductsasingredientsexploringpurchaseintentionsamongasampleofitalianconsumers AT fernandagalgano agrifoodbyproductsasingredientsexploringpurchaseintentionsamongasampleofitalianconsumers |