TY - JOUR
T1 - Beyond information seeking
T2 - Consumers' online deliberation about the risks and benefits of red meat
AU - Rutsaert, P.
AU - Barnett, J.
AU - Gaspar, R.
AU - Marcu, A.
AU - Pieniak, Z.
AU - Seibt, B.
AU - Lima, M.L.
AU - Fletcher, D.
AU - Verbeke, W.
PY - 2015/1
Y1 - 2015/1
N2 - Successfully engaging consumers in a dialogue may provide opportunities for better tailored and more effective communication about food-related risks and benefits. Using an online deliberation concept and software, VIZZATA™, we explored the validity of a behavioral measure of deliberation in an online environment in the context of consumers' perceptions and information seeking about the risks and benefits of red meat. Participants from Belgium, Portugal and the United Kingdom (n= 150) were given the opportunity to engage in an asynchronous interaction with the research team about the information provided. Online deliberation was operationalized as an individual metric based on the number of questions asked in relation to the information, the number of comments left, the number of glossary terms accessed, and the time spent on deliberative activity. This operationalization provided a coherent measure of deliberation which was positively correlated with information recall about the risks and benefits of red meat. Participants who perceived the information about red meat risks and benefits as too complex engaged less with the information. The study herewith presents a novel method of investigating consumers' deliberation about food issues that conceptualizes consumer engagement as more than just information seeking.
AB - Successfully engaging consumers in a dialogue may provide opportunities for better tailored and more effective communication about food-related risks and benefits. Using an online deliberation concept and software, VIZZATA™, we explored the validity of a behavioral measure of deliberation in an online environment in the context of consumers' perceptions and information seeking about the risks and benefits of red meat. Participants from Belgium, Portugal and the United Kingdom (n= 150) were given the opportunity to engage in an asynchronous interaction with the research team about the information provided. Online deliberation was operationalized as an individual metric based on the number of questions asked in relation to the information, the number of comments left, the number of glossary terms accessed, and the time spent on deliberative activity. This operationalization provided a coherent measure of deliberation which was positively correlated with information recall about the risks and benefits of red meat. Participants who perceived the information about red meat risks and benefits as too complex engaged less with the information. The study herewith presents a novel method of investigating consumers' deliberation about food issues that conceptualizes consumer engagement as more than just information seeking.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84907303569&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2014.07.011
U2 - 10.1016/j.foodqual.2014.07.011
DO - 10.1016/j.foodqual.2014.07.011
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84907303569
SN - 0950-3293
VL - 39
SP - 191
EP - 201
JO - Food Quality and Preference
JF - Food Quality and Preference
ER -