Consumer interest in hummus made from different pulses: Effects of information about origin and variety seeking tendency

Official dietary guidelines emphasize the importance of consuming pulses due to the advantageous nutritional composition and based on aspects of public health and sustainable production. Along with a global trend of increased focus on sustainability, launching locally produced plant-based food products have thus gained commercial interest. The purpose of this study is to investigate various pulses and how information about their origin affects the willingness to try and willingness to pay for hummus made from these pulses. In addition, variation seeking tendencies and attitude towards the environment were measured. The research design is a quantitative study including data obtained via online surveys. Respondents, (N = 363 Danish speaking and resident consumers) were presented with images of one traditional chickpea and four experimental versions of pulse-based hummus. Participants were presented with representative photos of the hummus samples and respective pulses and randomly selected to be given information regarding origin of the pulses (n = 164) or presented blind (n = 199). To investigate modulation of variation seeking tendency and individual attitude towards the environment, the VARSEEK scale and EAI-24 scale were applied respectively. Results suggest that providing information regarding origin has a positive effect on willingness to try and willingness to pay. Increase in variety seeking tendency significantly increased both willingness to try, willingness to pay, and ratings for appetizing appearance. Increased attitude towards the environment showed only a slightly significant increase on appetizing appearance. Furthermore, providing information about the pulses to respondents, particularly the segment with low variation seeking tendency had a significantly positive effect on willingness to try and ratings of appetizing appearance