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[Display omitted] • 44 % of consumers in Germany were potential early adopters of insect-based food. • Three target segments were identified from four potential early adopter segments. • Naturalness claims were the main selling point for all target segments. • Product validation by trusted institutions was important for unconvinced consumers. • General insect label was more appealing than insect-species label to a wider market. Despite well-documented scepticism among Western consumers about eating insects, there are groups of potential early adopters who will form the initial market for insect-based food. Understanding the different preferences of these potential early adopters is key to developing effective targeted marketing actions. This study aimed to identify segments of potential early adopters and their distinct product attribute preferences. Via an online survey in Germany (N = 922), we conducted discrete choice experiments using real packaging of insect-based meatballs and crackers. Latent class logit analysis identified four consumer segments for each product, three of which showed a willingness to buy the products. While these potential consumer groups varied in their price sensitivity and insect labelling preferences, they all attached the greatest importance to naturalness claims. Interestingly, sustainability and nutritional information were not top priorities for all consumers; instead we observed the importance of an institutional trust indicator, especially for unconvinced consumers. In conclusion, the results of the present study provide interesting insights for both researchers and practitioners to make informed marketing decisions in the development and labelling of insect-based products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Voluntary food reformulation agreements often lack industry compliance. • We analyze how sugar reduction in children's cereals affect demand and brand sales. • We estimate effects of cereal sugar content on consumer choices using mixed logit. • Simultaneous sugar reductions are most effective and least harmful to sales. • Substitution behavior minimally compromises product reformulation efforts. Voluntary food reformulation agreements may often be ineffective due to a lack of industry compliance. This paper examines demand responses and resulting (dis)incentives for companies to reduce the sugar content of children's cereals in Germany. We estimate the effects of sugar content on consumer choices using a random-coefficient logit model. Subsequently, we simulate how simultaneous and unilateral sugar reductions affect sales, sugar quantities purchased, and consumer welfare. The results identify simultaneous sugar reduction as being most effective in reducing sugar uptake and less harmful to firms' sales compared to unilateral reformulation. Product reformulation is not strongly compromised by substitution behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Web surveys are becoming increasingly popular in survey research including stated preference surveys. Compared with face-to-face, telephone and mail surveys, web surveys may contain a different and new source of measurement error and bias: the type of device that respondents use to answer the survey questions. This is the first study that tests whether the use of mobile devices, tablets or smartphones, affects survey characteristics and stated preferences in a web-based choice experiment. The web survey on expanding renewable energy production in Germany was carried out with 3182 respondents, of which 12% used a mobile device. Propensity score matching is used to account for selection bias in the use of mobile devices for survey completion. We find that mobile device users spent more time than desktop/laptop users to answer the survey. Yet, desktop/laptop users and mobile device users do not differ in acquiescence tendency as an indicator of extreme response patterns. For mobile device users only, we find a negative correlation between screen size and interview length and a positive correlation between screen size and acquiescence tendency. In the choice experiment data, we do not find significant differences in the tendency to choose the status quo option and scale between both subsamples. However, some of the estimates of implicit prices differ, albeit not in a unidirectional fashion. Model results for mobile device users indicate a U-shaped relationship between error variance and screen size. Together, the results suggest that using mobile devices is not detrimental to survey quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attribute non-attendance in stated choice experiments (CE) has gained attention in literature, with some studies finding that not all respondents attend to all attributes. While the current studies show that taking non-attendance into account can significantly influence survey results, it is not yet clear what motivates respondents to ignore or pay less attention to some of the attributes. In the present study, we use 16 different split samples designed according to a design of designs plan, varying different aspects of dimensionality, i.e., the number of choice sets, the number of alternatives, or the number of attributes. Firstly, to analyse the relationship between stated attribute non-attendance and the design dimensions we test whether both are significantly associated. Secondly, we estimate equality-constrained latent class models with classes based on pre-defined rules to infer attribute non-attendance and analyse the influence of the design dimensions. Overall, the results indicate a rather weak relationship between stated or inferred attribute non-attendance and design dimensions. However, an interesting finding is that there is an association with the number of alternatives and with the number of sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]