Consumers’ Behaviour and Willingness to Pay for Insect-based Food in the United Kingdom

Abstract

According to the Food Agriculture Organization, the world population is expected to grow to above 9 billion by 2050. This forecast sets enormous environmental, ethical, and economic challenges to the agri-food sector underscoring an urgent need to identify sustainable methods of production and new food products. The economic challenges of innovative supply chains require also an understanding of consumers’ acceptance and willingness to pay (WTP) for new food products if new markets have to develop successfully. Understanding consumers’ perceptions, acceptance, and preferences is crucial to facilitating the introduction of novel food and this is also the case for alternative sources of protein like edible insects, especially in the UK where there is a lack of studies on this topic. Three methods were used to develop this UK study. A systematic review was conducted to gain a comprehensive understanding of factors influencing consumer acceptance of edible insects. A qualitative study explored stakeholders' and consumers' perceptions employing both in-depth interviews and focus groups. A survey was developed on an extended version of the theory of planned behaviour where participants’ behaviour was evaluated estimating preferences and WTP for bread and pasta made with insects. Qualitative data was analysed with thematic analysis, while quantitative data used multi-way analysis of variance, non-linear regression models and the price sensitive meter. The findings of these three studies show that in the UK, gaining consumers’ acceptance of insect-based food products is challenging. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of marketing, policy and research for future studies.