Delicious words - assessing the impact of short storytelling messages on consumer preferences for variations of a new processed meat product

Summary

In this paper we present an experiment that tests the possible effect of adding the short type of "story" that is possible on a food label to variations of a product that is differentiated by its ingredients and way of production. We conduct an experiment where consumers have to choose from products consisting partly of this new type of product, partly of conventional products well known to consumers. We find that that while some consumers – especially those seeking stimulation and with a tendency towards variety seeking – will favor the new product, others will remain uninterested. We then test whether the introduction of an additional element of storytelling, on top of the information on ingredients and process, has an effect on choice. We find significant differences between these groups, suggesting that some consumers who otherwise would be less variety seeking and open for novel food products will resemble such consumers when appropriate storytelling is introduced in the choice situation.