Open Collections

Describing ‘Upcycling’ : Examining Perception and Valuation of Upcycled Meals

University of British Columbia. Food Services; University of British Columbia. Campus and Community Planning

This study aims to examine the impact labeling has on consumers’ ratings of the appealingness and valuation of upcycled meals. We hypothesized that labeling upcycled meals with a short description of what ‘upcycled’ means will result in increased subjective ratings of appealingness and valuation in comparison to food that is not labeled or labeled ‘upcycled’ without a description. We conducted a between-subjects experiment with 177 participants randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a photo of a meal with no label, a photo of a meal labeled “made from upcycled ingredients,” and a photo of a meal labeled “made from upcycled ingredients” with a description of the what upcycled ingredients are. We found that participants in the third condition showed the highest ratings of appeal as well as being willing to pay more (by 15%), which supports our hypothesis. Additionally, labeling meals with just the term ‘upcycled’ (without explanation) showed the lowest levels of both appeal and willingness to pay. This research does not only provide evidence that labeling affects consumers’ perception and evaluation but also demonstrates that using novel and generally unknown terms such as ‘upcycled’ without providing any definition or explanation may lead to lower appeal and reduced economic benefits for the food makers. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”

Report

eng

2023-09-07

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/85850

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/