The influence of automatic associations on preference for milk type
1Department of Food, Bioprocessing, and Nutrition Sciences, Southeast Dairy Foods Research Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, 27695.
Journal of Dairy Science
|October 12, 2020
Summary
Consumer implicit biases associate conventional milk with negative attributes, unlike organic milk. However, flavor drives preference in blinded tests, suggesting education can improve conventional milk perception.
Area of Science:
- Food Science
- Consumer Behavior
- Sensory Science
Background:
- Organic milk consumption is rising despite overall fluid milk decline in the US.
- Reasons for consumer preference for organic milk over conventional and other types are unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if implicit biases influence consumer preferences for different milk types.
- To define these biases within the consumer sensory experience.
Main Methods:
- Online Implicit Association Test (IAT) with 473 consumers comparing milk types on various dimensions.
- Primed and unprimed preference tests with 174 consumers, followed by explanatory tasks.
Main Results:
- Conventional milk showed more negative associations (welfare, sustainability, health, trust, safety, quality) than organic, local, or pasture-raised.
- Organic milk had a positive bias over pasture-raised; other non-conventional types were conflated.
- Blinded preference tests revealed flavor as the primary driver, with packaging, pasteurization, and feeding systems influencing taste perception.
Conclusions:
- Implicit beliefs negatively impact conventional milk perception, but flavor preference can be competitive.
- Organic and local milks are linked to positive attributes like nutrition and sustainability.
- Educational initiatives and improved product narratives are needed to address negative biases toward conventional milk.
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