Willingness to Try Innovative Food Products: a Comparison between British and Brazilian Consumers

Abstract

In this study we investigate the consumer’s willingness to try innovative food products in the context of the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre in Brazil and Cirencester in England, UK. Innovation in the food industry is an important source of differentiation and a value-adding opportunity for managers to develop new products. Therefore, the adoption or rejection of innovative food products becomes strategic from a market point-of-view. Using the Domain Specific Innovativeness [DSI] scale and the Food Neophobia Scale [FNS], two surveys were carried out in Brazilian and British universities with 279 and 101 respondents, respectively. Consumers were not the most inclined to adopt innovations, but they were not afraid of new foods either, especially in the UK. Managers in the food industry could be missing out on opportunities to innovate more. The results provide strategic and unique information about consumers for the food industry, aiming at supporting the development of innovative food products.

Keywords

• consumer innovativeness
• food products
• food neophobia
• Brazil
• UK.