Objective: Finding novels ways to deliver digital health behaviour interventions could increase their reach and impact. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of using a home-telemonitoring system (offered to eligible patients by regional authorities in Sweden for symptom- and health marker monitoring) as a novel dissemination opportunity. The intervention has been previously found effective at changing health behaviours in a general online help-seeking population. In the present study, participants were not randomised: all had access to the intervention (pre-post analyses). Results: Among 416 patients offered the digital intervention, 12.0% (n = 50) signed up, 58.0% (n = 29) of whom completed the 16-week follow-up. After 16-weeks of intervention access, participants reported increased fruit and vegetable intake (median = + 95.4 g/day) and decreased candy consumption (median= -58.4 g/week), but little change in alcohol consumption or physical activity. Changes were non-linear throughout the study, with the largest changes observed at the beginning and after 8-week follow-up. Participants were generally satisfied with the support, though concerns of personal relevance, disproportionate personal responsibility, low content specificity, and frustration with repetitive reminders were noted. With intervention tailoring to the population and delivery system, home-telemonitoring systems could offer a way to increase proactive intervention reach beyond individuals already seeking help

A week-long home-use study catalogued the experiences of 145 consumers in Sweden, selected for their intent to increase their own consumption of plant-based products, as they attempted to integrate a provided selection of plant-based dairy alternatives (PBDAs) into their daily lives. For behavioural change to occur, it is thought that capability, opportunity, and motivation are needed (COM-B model). By giving consumers opportunity through provision of seven PBDAs to use at home, this study attempted to isolate and explore their described capability and motivation to change their dietary behaviours. Given free-reign to try the products in whichever manner they preferred, participants qualitatively logged their thoughts about the products and, if they would not choose to use them again, described their reasoning. Responses were analysed thematically through the lens of the COM-B model of behavioural change. The main themes identified, expectations, direct comparisons, sensory experience , and functional experience were modified by two subthemes : prior experience and uncertainty . This showed that participants relied on their understanding of their own ‘normal’ product use to contextualise their experiences with the new products. Direct sensory and functional comparison to the analogous dairy product often influenced acceptance or rejection. However, previous experience with other dairy replacements also shaped expectations, reflecting the increased social normality of these products. Motivation to continue using a product was often related to a feeling of pleasant surprise upon testing it: creating an updated experience, and thus expectation, for future consumption. Strategies for positively shaping consumer expectations are discussed

This study investigates the neural and behavioral mechanisms of tactile perceptual discrimination using fMRI and a set of wrinkled surface stimuli with varying textures. Fifteen female participants were tasked with distinguishing between different surfaces by touch alone. Behavioral results demonstrated variable discriminability across conditions, reflecting the tactile sensitivity of human fingertips. Neural analysis showed varied brain activations tied to the task’s difficulty. In the easiest least fine-grained discrimination condition, widespread activations were observed across sensory and integration regions. As task difficulty increased, stronger parietal and frontal lobe involvement reflected higher cognitive demands. In the hardest most fine-grained discrimination condition, activation concentrated in the right frontal lobe, indicating reliance on executive functions. These results highlight the brain’s intricate role in processing sensory information during tactile discrimination tasks of varying difficulty. As task difficulty increases, the brain adapts by engaging additional neural resources to meet higher cognitive demands. This research advances our understanding of the psychophysical and neural bases of tactile discrimination acuity, with practical implications for designing materials that enhance tactile feedback.

The role of food disgust on entamophagy acceptance is well established but further indepth analysis of how food disgust impacts other aspects that include a wider range of attitudes have been seldom investigated. The study employed a two-study mixed-methods approach to determine the impact of food disgust on consumer’s perceptions of insects as food and feed. In study one, an online questionnaire (N = 402) was deployed to determine the impact of food disgust on perceptions of insects as food and animal feed, familiarity, willingness to try foods containing insects, and sensory expectations. Food disgust inversely correlated with insects being acceptable as both food and feed. Individuals with higher food disgust had no willingness to try any foods with insects included. Providing information had a minor change on sensory expectations of hypothetical hamburgers with insects. In study two, participants were split into groups of low/high disgust and by five dietary orientations, and discussed topics concerning general attitudes towards traditional/alternative protein sources and insects as food/feed. Food disgust overrode differences in dietary orientation for participants’ attitudes towards insects as food. Themes including culture, sustainability, ethics, scepticism, hygiene, convention, and familiarity were identified. Themes of naturalness, food safety and ethics emerged in addition. The mixed-method approach revealed the reasons behind the general unwillingness to try insects and the types of barriers experienced towards insects as food. 

Development of satisfying plant based (PB) meat analogues could be expedited through better understanding of the sensorial drivers of hedonic (dis)liking. To address this, here six commercially available PB chicken analogues and a chicken breast reference are evaluated. Consumers (N = 105) report hedonic liking (appearance, aroma, taste/flavour, texture, and overall), sensorially profile the samples with rate-all-that-apply (RATA) and just-about-right (JAR) scales and describe what they like and dislike about the tasted samples in their own words (free-text responses). The samples are also characterized instrumentally: microscopy to visualize the microstructure and cyclic compression testing to quantify key mechanical properties (maximum true stress, Young's modulus, and compressive energy). The sensory space is explored with principal component analysis and penalty analysis; associations between the modalities of liking and how these may determine overall liking is assessed using Bayesian network analysis; and multiple regression with Bayesian inference is used to contrast liking across samples and identify the drivers of (dis)liking within each hedonic modality. Chicken is preferred across all hedonic modalities, while samples made of mycoprotein are liked most of the PB samples. Drivers of liking are detected for all modalities except appearance. The drivers of texture liking include higher perceived tenderness and juiciness, the latter of which is also inversely correlated with Young's modulus on the first compression cycle. The free-text responses suggest that consumers readily recognized the chicken sample. That sensory responses reflect both the intrinsic properties of products (bottom-up) and cognitive (top-down) aspects, including familiarity, is thus discussed.

Digital multiple health behaviour interventions could reduce the prevalence of behavioural risk factors for several non-communicable diseases, but their design could be improved through better understanding of how individuals navigate behavioural change. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study evaluated 2657 prompts that were written by individuals (N = 722) for their personal use while taking part in a digital multiple health behaviour intervention trial. This unique data reflects individuals’ thoughts and feelings whilst actively trying to change, rather than post-hoc descriptions or explanations thereof. Inductive qualitative analysis was used to evaluate the prompts and extract themes within the material; then correspondence analysis was used to test whether these themes manifested differently across four behavioural categories (alcohol consumption, tobacco use, healthy diet, physical activity). Six main themes, each with subthemes, were identified (Encouragement & Motivation, Implementing Change, Self-Focus, Mindset, Negotiation Style, and Specific Motives), which reflect nuances in the concept of self-regulation and align well with behavioural change theory. People favoured different approaches to change depending on the target behavioural category, which were broadly discriminated by dimensions of action vs inaction and external/impersonal vs internal/personal focus. This work reveals the various ways individuals approach and navigate changing their health behaviours. Inclusion of self-authoring modules in digital interventions may offer individuals an opportunity to develop skills and know-how gained through intervention engagement, and remind themselves of personal reasons to change.

Efforts to develop the wild berry industry in Sweden and internationally call for increased knowledge about the consumer perspective. Our objective is to investigate attitudes, product associations, consumption patterns, and foraging behaviour regarding bilberries, with an online survey using a nationally representative sample (N = 2010). The data were analysed with regression and multinomial testing using a Bayesian approach as well as with correspondence analysis on a check-all-that-apply task. Results indicate that bilberries are consumed regularly in Sweden and a majority of consumers (56.5 %) reported foraging for bilberries during 2023. The factors considered most important when purchasing bilberries are Swedish origin and good sensory characteristics (taste and texture). Consumers’ associations with bilberry products were described by three multifaceted dimensions: familiar/unfamiliar (also related to hedonics), natural/artificial (also related to sourness/sweetness), and utilitarian/exclusive (also related to situational appropriateness). Fresh bilberries were more likely to be perceived as ‘traditional’ and ‘everyday’ by consumers in Northern vis-a-vis ` Eastern or Southern Sweden, and women associated both fresh and frozen bilberries with being ‘artificial’ more than men. The results provide important insight for actors that promote a sustainable wild berry industry that acknowledges the voice of the consumer.

Food neophobia (FN) – the reluctance to try novel foods – may have served a protective, evolutionary function against consuming harmful foods. In modern societies, however, FN is a major barrier that limits dietary variety and negatively impacts acceptance of both new and familiar foods. Using an online survey (adults living in Sweden, n = 946) this study investigated the influence of FN on sensory expectations of five types of seafood (salmon, herring, oysters, octopus, and seaweed; presented as labelled images). Participants rated expected liking, emotional arousal, and perceived familiarity (quantitative scales) and described the sensory aspects they expected to like and dislike using their own words (open-ended responses). The open-ended responses were evaluated qualitatively and categorized into four sensory modalities (appearance, aroma, taste, and texture). Expected liking was highest for salmon (followed by herring, seaweed, and lastly octopus and oysters), and FN was negatively associated with expected liking for all species except salmon, possibly due to being familiar and regularly consumed in Sweden. Logistic regression was used to evaluate whether the likelihood of spontaneously mentioning each sensory modality as liked or disliked varied by species and FN score. This revealed that participants were more likely to mention liking aspects of taste and texture than aroma and appearance for all samples except oysters. Texture was commonly disliked for herring, oysters, and octopus, but not for salmon and seaweed. Higher FN scores increased the likelihood of mentioning all sensory modalities as disliked and decreased the likelihood of mentioning all sensory modalities as liked. Thus, higher levels of FN were associated with both an increased focus on sensory disliking, and lower expected sensory enjoyment across all modalities. These results suggest that FN may be at least partly driven by heightened sensory responsiveness and highlight the importance of understanding expectations prior to tasting.

Purpose: Seafood consumption in Sweden is below the national recommendations and limited to very few species. This study aims to explore the factors shaping seafood choices at the point of purchase among a sample of current consumers in Sweden, and examines their attitudes regarding seafood consumption more broadly. Design/methodology/approach: Convenience sampling was used to recruit consumers planning to purchase seafood at a supermarket in Sweden. Participants’ shopping trip was recorded using wearable eye tracking glasses and, upon completion, semi-structured interviews were conducted using a cued retrospective think aloud method. This exploratory study integrates qualitative data (N = 39) with eye tracking data (N = 34), to explore how seafood choices unfold when consumers purchase at the point of purchase. Findings: Purchases were mostly restricted to familiar seafood species. Four interlinked main themes were identified from thematic analysis of the interview data: Ambivalence, Nice and Necessary, Proficiency with Seafood and External Influences. Sustainability information (e.g. certifications) faced strong competition from other visual elements at the point of purchase, receiving less attention than product imagery and pricing information. Originality/value: This study is the first to explore the factors shaping seafood choices of current consumers at the point of purchase. The unique approach, combining explicit and implicit measures, enriches understanding of the factors influencing seafood choices and how these may interrelate. The results are valuable for the industry and contribute to the literature by identifying possible routes to improve seafood sustainability communication.

The success of seafood products on the market is heavily dependent on their sensory performance. Thus, research techniques involving measurements obtained from consumers are crucial to gauging market potential. Numerous methods are available for the sensory evaluation of seafood products, which can be broadly categorized into objective (analytical) and subjective (affective) measurements. This chapter describes a wide range of methods used in the sensory and consumer sciences. Methods covered include descriptive techniques, discrimination testing, and temporal methods, as well as hedonic and preference testing and others. Where possible, the methods are exemplified with studies on seafood products, and those that have not yet been utilized in seafood products but have strong potential are also described. Finally, the chapter outlines important considerations for planning sensory and consumer research in order to maximize the usefulness of the results collected