MATERIALS AND METHODS

In order to gain insight in consumers’ decision making processes towards the purchase of tropical fruits and derived products, we performed three exploratory studies.

Study 1

The first study investigated the influence of individual factors (product familiarity, general attitude and beliefs), environmental factors (social norms) and socio-demographic characteristics on the intention of a person to purchase fresh or processed tropical fruit products (Sabbe et al., 2007a).

Data were collected through a questionnaire with close-ended questions. Questions dealt with topics related to product familiarity, beliefs, general attitude, social norms and purchasing intention, and were separately assessed for fresh and processed tropical fruit products, respectively. The questionnaire also included questions about socio-demographic characteristics.

The questionnaire was used during an exhibition (Agriflanders) in Ghent (Belgium), held in January 2007. Respondents (n=290) were selected by means of

convenience sampling and the obtained data were analysed using SPSS 12.0. The gender balance was 54.8% male and 45.2% female. Mean age was 39.9 years with a standard deviation of 14.5 years. More than one quarter of the respondents (27.4%) had travelled outside Europe in the last two years.

Study 2

The second study assessed the impact of sensory experiences after specific tropical fruit consumption on consumers’ general expectations formed before tasting (Sabbe et al.,

2007b). Data were collected through a questionnaire, combined with consumer sensory tests. Before tasting, consumers’ general expectations about tropical fruits and their intention to purchase these fruits were measured by evaluating multiple product attributes (i.e. quality, special, attractive, taste, nutritious, safety and healthy). After tasting, the same attributes were used to evaluate the tested product, and the subsequent purchasing intention was again assessed. In this way, we recorded consumers’ general expectations about fresh and processed tropical fruit products before tasting and consumers’ specific experience after tasting the test products.

Respondents were selected through convenience sampling. In total, 281 questionnaires which included consumers’ sensory tests of five fresh tropical fruits, i.e. cherimoya (n=55), dragon fruit (n=54), mangosteen (n=56), persimmon (n=60) and tree

tomato (n=56)[1], and 290 questionnaires integrating sensory tests of five processed

tropical fruit products i.e. açaí juice (n=60), baobab juice (n=56), berrycactus jam (n=59),

cashew apple juice (n=59) and tamarind jam (n=56)[1], were analysed by means of SPSS

12.0. Study 3

The third study was performed in order to gain insights into perceived motives and barriers, and to evaluate the impact of health and nutrition claims when purchasing tropical fruits (Sabbe et al., 2007c).

A qualitative approach was chosen for this study. Two focus group discussions, with a total of 15 participants, were carried out in Ghent (Belgium) in May 2007. One group consisted of seven women aged between 25 and 40 years whereas the other one included eight women between 50 and 65 years. All recruited respondents were open- minded towards tropical fruits and had some knowledge about this fruit category. Within each group, there was a balanced mix (i.e. light versus heavy users) of tropical fruit users and consumers of tropical fruit juices.

instructions for the discussion procedure and described the structure and topics that had to be discussed. A professional research agency assisted in conducting the focus group discussions: they recruited the participants and facilitated the group discussions. The sessions were videotaped with participants’ permission and transcribed. A qualitative analysis of the transcripts was subsequently performed.

RESULTS

Role of individual, environmental and socio-demographic characteristics

Consumers’ familiarity with tropical fruits was assessed by their knowledge, usage and

past experience and was found to be significantly higher for processed tropical fruit products than for fresh tropical fruits. However, product familiarity varied and certainly depended on respondents’ knowledge with respect to the different tropical fruit species and their product categories. In fact, Figure 1 indicates that, with respect to knowledge, a distinction could be made between common and exotic tropical fruit. The first group contains tropical fruits (i.e. pineapple, coconut, passion fruit, mango, avocado, litchi, carambola and papaya)[1] that were known by more than 70% of the respondents whereas the latter one includes fruits (i.e. persimmon, tree tomato, dragon fruit and guava)[1]

unknown to more than 60% of the respondents. Furthermore, the different tropical fruit product categories (juices, yoghurt, jam and canned) seem all to be well-known (Figure 2), although we could expect that consumers’ knowledge within each product category will vary depending on the type of tropical fruits being processed in it.

Figure 1.Consumers’ knowledge of 12 different fresh tropical fruits species

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% guava dragon fruit tree tomato persimmon papaya carambola litchi avocado mango passion fruit coconut pineapple

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% canned tropical fruit

jam with tropical fruit yoghurt with tropical fruit tropical fruit juice

not known known

Figure 2.Consumers’ knowledge of four product categories containing tropical fruits A general positive attitude towards tropical fruit consumption among respondents, which is significantly higher towards fresh than towards processed tropical fruit products, was revealed.

Consumers’ beliefs with respect to tropical fruits and derived products were measured by evaluating multiple product attributes (Figure 3). The different product attributes, with the exception of the attribute ‘cheap’, received positive scores for fresh fruits as well as for processed tropical fruit products. Consumers hold stronger beliefs that fresh tropical fruits are ‘special’, ‘attractive’, ‘healthy’, ‘nutritious’ and ‘good tasting’ in comparison with these beliefs expressed for processed tropical fruits. On the other hand, compared to their beliefs related to processed tropical fruits, respondents associate fresh tropical fruits with being ‘expensive’, less ‘easily available’, lower in ‘quality’ and less ‘sustainable’.

Figure 3.Attribute profiles of fresh and processed tropical fruits: average attribute ratings (n=290). Legend: ▲= fresh tropical fruits; ■ = processed tropical fruit products

* p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01

In order to assess the underlying dimensions that constitute consumers’ belief in tropical fruits, a factor analysis of product attribute beliefs was performed. With respect to fresh tropical fruits, the factor analysis revealed three factors explaining 63.9% of the variance. With satisfactory composite reliability coefficients three constructs were composed: a credence attribute beliefs-construct, containing the credence attributes ‘sustainable’, ‘healthy’, ‘ethical’, ‘safe’ and ‘nutritious’; a special attribute beliefs-construct, including the attributes ‘attractive’, ‘good taste’ and ‘special’ and a search attribute beliefs- construct, enclosing the search attributes ‘cheap’ and ‘easily available’. The attribute ‘quality’ was not assigned to any of the factors, which suggests that ‘quality’ can be regarded to a considerable extent as an overarching concept. With respect to processed

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 expensive difficult available bad quality not sustainable not ethical not safe not nutritious not healthy bad taste not attractive not special -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 cheap** easily available** good quality** sustainable* ethical* safe nutritious** healthy** good taste** attractive** special**

tropical fruits, an exploratory factor analysis was also conducted but no meaningful constructs could be identified. The high heterogeneity of processed tropical fruit product categories used in this study may explain the lack of consistency in terms of reported beliefs. However, the analysis revealed two main factors; one in which the attribute belief for ‘attractive’ loaded high and the other with a high factor loading for ‘easily available’.

The social norm refers to the possible influence from partner, children, family,

friends and colleagues at work on consumers’ tropical fruit consumption. Factor analysis, explaining 70% of the variance in the original data, revealed three dimensions. The first factor contains the variables ‘friends’, ‘colleagues’ and ‘family’ and is labelled as the construct ‘social environment’. On the second factor, the item pertaining to the impact of ‘children’ loads high and is further referred to as ‘children’. ‘Partner’ loads high on the third factor.

Finally, a stepwise linear regression was used to assess the impact of individual characteristics (product familiarity, general attitude and beliefs), social influences (partner, children and social environment) and socio-demographic factors as predictors of the intention to purchase fresh and processed tropical fruit products.

The regression model indicated product familiarity, children and the special attribute beliefs-construct as significant and positive determinants on the intention of purchasing fresh tropical fruits (Table 1). On the other hand, familiarity with processed tropical fruit products, general attitude and the belief attribute ‘attractive’ were found to be significant predictors in the purchasing process of processed tropical fruit products (Table 1).

Table 1. Stepwise multiple regression with purchasing intention of fresh and processed tropical fruit products as dependent variable

Variable entered Estimate β SE t-statistic p-value

Fresh tropical fruits (n=290); R2adj=0.454**

Product familiarity 0.675 0.057 11.85 0.000

Children 0.168 0.069 2.43 0.016

Special attribute beliefs-construct 0.172 0.086 2.01 0.045

Processed tropical fruit products (n=290); R2adj=0.498**

Product familiarity 0.714 0.070 10.23 0.000

General attitude 0.400 0.085 4.70 0.000

Attribute belief ‘attractive’ 0.188 0.071 2.63 0.009

** p<0.01

Furthermore, with respect to socio-demographic characteristics, this study revealed that, both for fresh and processed tropical fruit products, females and respondents who had travelled outside Europe have a higher purchasing intention than males and those who

Role of sensory experiences

General expectations consumers have about fresh and processed tropical fruit products were not systematically confirmed after tasting the selected fresh and processed tropical fruit products. Expectation confirmation largely occurred after tasting cherimoya and persimmon and after tasting berrycactus jam and cashew apple juice. Expectation disconfirmation occurred for mangosteen, tree tomato and tamarind jam. As adults generally prefer sweet tastes, pleasant smells and tend to reject bitterness and sourness (Messer, 1989), it was expected that consumers’ expectations would not have been fulfilled after tasting mangosteen, tree tomato and tamarind jam because of their predominantly sour taste. The low sugar-to-acid ratio, yielding a poor sensory quality for dragon fruit, can explain the observed expectation disconfirmation with respect to taste after consuming this fresh fruit. Expectation disconfirmation also occurred for açaí juice and baobab juice. Unfamiliarity with new and unknown exotic flavours, as is the case with açaí and baobab juices, also seem to lead to disconfirmation of taste expectation as respondents could not refer to already known and established tastes and flavours.

When general expectations about taste were not confirmed after consuming the considered fresh or processed tropical fruit, a simultaneous decrease in the rating of some other non-sensory attributes was observed. If taste expectations were not fulfilled, respondents considered most of the tested tropical fruit as less ‘nutritious’ and less ‘healthy’ after its consumption. In addition, expectation disconfirmation with respect to taste resulted also in a decrease in perception of the tasted fresh tropical fruit as being something ‘special’ and ‘attractive’. With regard to the tasting of the processed tropical fruit products, a similar relationship between disconfirmation of the attributes ‘taste’ and ‘attractive’ was observed. Furthermore, disconfirmation with respect to taste was mostly reflected in a decrease in purchase intention after consuming the fresh or processed tropical fruit products. Apparently, consumers deduce other (non-sensory) quality attribute expectations from sensory experiences.

In this study, taste experience was shown to greatly influence acceptance of fresh and processed tropical fruit products and hence consumers’ satisfaction. Disconfirmation of sensory expectations, mostly accompanied by a decrease in beliefs about tropical fruits’ health and nutritional benefits after tasting, leads to consumer dissatisfaction and is translated into a lower intention to purchase the tasted tropical fruits or their products. Role of motives and barriers, and nutrition and health claims

A key message from this third study is that pleasure-seeking or hedonism appears to be a major stimulus for purchasing tropical fruits, both in fresh and processed form. In fact, the most important motivations with respect to the purchase of tropical fruits and tropical fruit juices are consumers’ impulsive need for indulgence, and the festive and special character (in terms of taste, attractiveness and colour) of the fruits and their juices. Other important motivations for consuming fresh tropical fruits are that these are perceived as having a special taste and being healthy. Some respondents also believed that fresh tropical fruits contain other vitamins and minerals than local, native fruits. With respect to tropical fruit juices, different exotic fruit combinations and their convenience in usage and consumption are - besides their perceived special taste and festive character - important motivations for their purchase and subsequent consumption. In line with consumers’ growing demand and search for natural and healthy products (Fulker, 2001;

von der Linden, 2004), it was not surprising to find that freshly squeezed tropical fruit juices are preferred to concentrates and nectars. Their naturalness, perceived healthiness and convenience are convincing factors for purchasing these juices.

The perception of fresh tropical fruits as being expensive, together with a lack of knowledge and unfamiliarity with them, form the main barriers to their purchase. For many less well-known fresh tropical fruits (e.g. dragon fruit, kumquat, mangosteen, rambutan and tree tomato)[1], respondents mentioned being unable to judge the overall quality of the fruit due to lack of knowledge and concrete judgement criteria in terms of taste, usage, conservation, etc. Disappointment can thus occur more easily during consumption. The mismatch between expectation and experience, combined with the perceived high price, will negatively influence consumers’ future purchases of fresh tropical fruits. With respect to tropical fruit juices, unfamiliarity mainly influences consumers’ purchase decision. Most respondents buy tropical fruit juices containing a mixture of known and unknown tropical fruits but tend to reject juices containing mainly unknown tropical fruits. Here, lack of knowledge with respect to taste, combined with high price form the main barriers.

In summary, respondents consume tropical fruit juices for the sensory sensation. Health reasons do not form the main motivation for tropical fruit juice consumption. Though, nutrition and health claims do seem to influence consumers’ purchasing decision. In fact, when discussing diverse tropical fruit juices carrying different claims, the participants constantly referred to the complex interaction between eating for pleasure and health.

From the group discussions it became apparent that people are searching for pleasure and healthfulness in terms of ‘natural’ and ‘unprocessed’ as they mentioned to attach importance to nutrition claims such as ‘no additives’, ‘no preservatives’, ‘no colorants’, ‘no added sugars’, etc. The respondents considered fruits to be healthy and furthermore subsequently health promoting in a very natural way. Enriched or fortified tropical fruit juices (e.g. added with calcium and vitamin D) were not easily conceptualised as truly enhancing the health benefits of the product by the participants. Moreover, the discussants stated that the fragile balance between health and pleasure could easily be disrupted, especially when the juices carry claims confronting consumers with illness, emphasising the prevention of diseases or having medicinal-related associations. Tropical fruit juices are then no longer considered as juices which are consumed for their indulgence character, but more as a medicine. However, respondents mentioned that they are not looking for curing properties in tropical fruit juices. They all declared to seek medical support in cases of illness. On the other hand, people with special health needs (e.g. vegetarians, diabetics) are more aware of nutritional and health claims and will thus be more responsive to those claims addressing their specific needs. DISCUSSION

many consumers. The introduction of fresh and processed tropical fruit products in the marketplace will only be successful if the voice of the consumer is completely understood. Therefore, the identification of the underlying needs that determine consumers´ purchasing behaviour is essential.

Pleasure-seeking behaviour is found to be a major drive for tropical fruit consumption. Consumers mainly purchase fresh tropical fruits and their juices for their indulgent, festive and special character. But the interplay between taste and health considerations on tropical fruit consumption cannot be neglected. Sensory experiences play a predominant role in consumer satisfaction. A decrease in health and nutrition beliefs was observed when a disconfirmation with respect to taste occurred. Taste disconfirmation also led to a lowering in the perception of tropical fruits as being ‘attractive’. Repeated purchase intention and consumption is determined more strongly by confirmation of taste expectations, rather than by perceived health and nutritional benefits and search attributes such as ‘attractiveness’.

Although health considerations do not form the main motivation for tropical fruit consumption, it seems that nutrition and health claims on tropical fruit juices do influence consumers’ purchasing decision. However, it has to be stressed that there exists a complex relationship and fragile equilibrium between eating for pleasure and eating for health. With respect to tropical fruit juices, people are searching for pleasure and healthfulness in terms of ‘natural’ and ‘unprocessed’ as they consider tropical fruits inherently healthy and naturally health promoting. On the other hand, tropical fruit juices carrying claims with disease- or medicine-like representation evoke quite negative responses in individuals who do not have health problems as the juices will risk association with medicinal products, to the detriment of their indulgent character. Hence, purchase intentions are likely to decline.

Product familiarity is found to be a prominent determinant when purchasing tropical fruits, both for fresh and processed tropical fruits. Especially for those tropical fruits that are less well-known, consumers do not dispose of concrete quality judgement criteria. As they do not know what to expect in terms of taste, usage, preservation, etc., disconfirmation of expectations and subsequent disappointment might occur after consumption. Combined with the perceived high prices, this is likely to have a negative impact on future purchasing intentions. The same can be assumed for tropical fruit juices for which unfamiliarity with respect to taste and the price form the main barriers to purchase.

But, unfamiliarity and lack of knowledge with new tropical fruits and derived products can be overcome. As taste is a predominant factor in the purchase of tropical fruits, consumers should be given the possibility of tasting the fruits and their products, for example through taste sampling or demonstrations at the place of purchase. Furthermore, straightforward communication about health benefits, usage (e.g. in recipes) and preservation issues as well as information about judgement criteria can become a useful tool by making consumers familiar with tropical fruits.