IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i7p2427-d340693.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Consumers’ Attitudes Facing Entomophagy: Polish Case Perspectives

Author

Listed:
  • Agnieszka Orkusz

    (Department of Biotechnology and Food Analysis, Wroclaw University of Economics and Business, 53-345 Wroclaw, Poland)

  • Wioletta Wolańska

    (Department of Forecasts and Economic Analysis, Wroclaw University of Economics and Business, 53-345 Wroclaw, Poland)

  • Joanna Harasym

    (Department of Biotechnology and Food Analysis, Wroclaw University of Economics and Business, 53-345 Wroclaw, Poland)

  • Arkadiusz Piwowar

    (Department of Economics and Organization of Food Economy, Wroclaw University of Economics and Business, 53-345 Wroclaw, Poland)

  • Magdalena Kapelko

    (Department of Logistics, Wroclaw University of Economics and Business, 53-345 Wroclaw, Poland)

Abstract

Based on high nutritional value and low production costs, edible insects are an excellent and sustainable source of animal proteins. However, completely replacing meat with edible insects requires a change in consumer mentality not only in Poland, but also in other European countries. In western countries, most people reject eating insects, mainly for cultural reasons. Concerning this, the objective of the study was to examine the knowledge, behavior, and attitudes of the Polish community about edible insects and to understand the main factors driving edible insect consumption. The study was held at the Wroclaw University of Economics and Business, Poland and consisted of two parts: The survey (among 464 students) and the tasting session (among 402 participants). The main findings suggest that there is low willingness to adopt edible insects as a meat substitute among Polish students due to the psychological barriers, such as neophobia and disgust. However, the willingness to eat processed insect food (bread, biscuit) is far higher than for unprocessed whole insects. Environmental benefits are the factors that least affected students’ willingness to try edible insects. Additionally, the tasting session of the bread with powdered insects was attended by the vast majority of participants, which indicates that a positive sensory experience can improve the acceptability of insects as food.

Suggested Citation

  • Agnieszka Orkusz & Wioletta Wolańska & Joanna Harasym & Arkadiusz Piwowar & Magdalena Kapelko, 2020. "Consumers’ Attitudes Facing Entomophagy: Polish Case Perspectives," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-15, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:7:p:2427-:d:340693
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/7/2427/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/7/2427/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cavallo, Carla & Materia, Valentina C., 2018. "Insects or not Insects? Dilemmas or Attraction for Young Generations: A Case in Italy," International Journal on Food System Dynamics, International Center for Management, Communication, and Research, vol. 9(3), June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Arkadiusz Piwowar & Wioletta Wolańska & Agnieszka Orkusz & Magdalena Kapelko & Joanna Harasym, 2023. "Modelling the Factors Influencing Polish Consumers’ Approach towards New Food Products on the Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-15, February.
    2. Raquel P. F. Guiné & Sofia G. Florença & Cristina A. Costa & Paula M. R. Correia & Manuela Ferreira & Ana P. Cardoso & Sofia Campos & Ofélia Anjos & Cristina Chuck-Hernández & Marijana Matek Sarić & I, 2022. "Investigation of the Level of Knowledge in Different Countries about Edible Insects: Cluster Segmentation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-19, December.
    3. Karolina Szulc, 2023. "Edible Insects: A Study of the Availability of Insect-Based Food in Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-15, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shahida Anusha Siddiqui & Tayyaba Alvi & Aysha Sameen & Sipper Khan & Andrey Vladimirovich Blinov & Andrey Ashotovich Nagdalian & Mohammad Mehdizadeh & Danung Nur Adli & Marleen Onwezen, 2022. "Consumer Acceptance of Alternative Proteins: A Systematic Review of Current Alternative Protein Sources and Interventions Adapted to Increase Their Acceptability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-19, November.
    2. De Devitiis, Biagia & Viscecchia, Rosaria & Carfora, Valentina & Cavallo, Carla & Cicia, Gianna & Del Giudice, Teresa & Menna, Concetta & Nardone, Gianluca & Secca, Antonio, 2021. "Parents’ trust in food safety and healthiness of children’s diets: A TPB model explaining the role of retailers and government," Economia agro-alimentare / Food Economy, Italian Society of Agri-food Economics/Società Italiana di Economia Agro-Alimentare (SIEA), vol. 23(2), July.
    3. Giovanni Sogari & Diana Bogueva & Dora Marinova, 2019. "Australian Consumers’ Response to Insects as Food," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-15, May.
    4. Eloi Jorge & Ernesto Lopez-Valeiras & Maria Beatriz Gonzalez-Sanchez, 2020. "The Importance Given to Food Naturalness Attributes by Millennial University Students," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-13, January.
    5. Brunella Arru & Roberto Furesi & Pietro Pulina & Fabio A. Madau, 2022. "Price Sensitivity of Fish Fed with Insect Meal: An Analysis on Italian Consumers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-21, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:7:p:2427-:d:340693. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.