Strategies to Convince Consumers to Eat Insects - A Review

Insects as a Sustainable Food Source

• Insects are nutritionally adequate, sustainably produced, and safe to eat.
• Approximately 25% of the Western population is willing to consume insect-based products.
• Cultural background significantly influences attitudes toward insect consumption.
• Effective strategies to increase consumption include providing information and incorporating insects into familiar products.
• Additional strategies involve offering taste experiences, utilizing celebrity endorsements, and targeting specific consumer groups.

Consumer Reluctance and Key Factors

• Western consumers are often reluctant to eat insects due to:
  • Disgust: Insects go against internalized norms of what is considered food.
  • Neophobia: Hesitancy to consume unfamiliar foods.
  • Lack of product information.
  • Lack of experience: Never having consumed insects before.
  • Disinterest and indifference.
• Cultural backgrounds and traditional eating patterns explain differences in attitudes toward insect consumption worldwide.

Strategies to Overcome Reluctance

• Emphasize the nutritional adequacy of insects.
• Incorporate insects in unrecognizable forms within familiar products.
• Make insect products delicious.
• Provide taste experiences.
• Market insect-based products by taste rather than solely on sustainability.
• Offer detailed product information.
• Use celebrities to promote insect-based products.
• Target specific groups, such as sensation-seekers or children.
• Develop market strategies using stylistic images and retail in supermarkets.
• The objective is to find a mix of the approaches best suited to specific customer types, according to their sociocultural backgrounds.

Introduction to Insect Consumption

• Hundreds of millions of people consume insects as food, especially in tropical regions, due to larger insect sizes and year-round availability (Van Huis et al., 2022; Bergier, 1941; Bodenheimer, 1951; Van Huis, 2018).
• Insects were likely a significant dietary component for early humans but have been undervalued due to a bias toward male-oriented hunting activities (McGrew, 2014; Sutton, 1995).
• Insect consumption has been erroneously considered backward and primitive, often seen as a fall-back food resource (Lesnik, 2017; DeFoliart, 1999).
• The term ‘entomophagy’ is a Western invention that inaccurately portrays insect consumption as a strange habit, rather than normal food (Evans et al., 2015).

Environmental Benefits

• Shifting food patterns is necessary to reduce the environmental impact of animal products.
• Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per kg are:
  • Beef: $133kg CO_2 eq$
  • Lamb and mutton: $40kg CO_2 eq$
  • Prawns: $27kg CO_2 eq$
  • Cheese: $24kg CO_2 eq$
  • Pork: $12kg CO_2 eq$
  • Poultry meat: $10kg CO_2 eq$
  • Other foods (eggs, milk, cereals, vegetables, fruits): below $5kg CO_2 eq$ (Poore & Nemecek, 2018).
• Animal products provide 37% of protein and 18% of calories but use 83% of farmland and contribute 56-58% of GHG emissions.
• Eliminating beef could reduce food GHG emissions by 33%.
• Substantial dietary shifts are needed by 2050, including a greater than 50% reduction in consumption of unhealthy foods (red meat, sugar) and a greater than 100% increase in consumption of healthy foods (nuts, fruits, vegetables, legumes) (Willett et al., 2019).
• Compared to meat products, insect products:
  • Emit fewer greenhouse gases and use less water (Kim et al., 2020).
  • Require less land (Oonincx & de Boer, 2012).
  • Can be grown on organic side streams, contributing to a circular economy (e.g., mealworms on carrot pomace) (Rovai, Ortgies et al., 2021).

Insect Species Consumed

• Approximately 1600 insect species are consumed globally (Van Itterbeeck & Pelozuelo, 2022), which is about 0.03% of the 5.5 million species on earth (Stork, 2018).
• Most commonly eaten insects are beetle larvae (Coleoptera), caterpillars (Lepidoptera), grasshoppers and crickets (Orthoptera), and ants, bees, and wasps (Hymenoptera) (Jongema, 2017).
• Interest in the Western world grew after a 2013 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Van Huis et al., 2013, Van Huis, 2013).
• Commonly farmed insect species include:
  • House cricket ($Acheta domestica$).
  • Migratory locust ($Locusta migratoria$).
  • Yellow mealworm ($Tenebrio molitor$) and lesser mealworm ($Alphitobius diaperinus$).
  • Domesticated silkworm ($Bombyx mori$) pupae.
  • Honey bee drones (by-product of honey production) (Schiel et al., 2022).
• Protein isolates are the predominant technology used, functioning as food ingredients or supplements (Tavares et al., 2022).
• Gere et al. (2019) aimed to determine the most suitable insect species for consumption based on nutritional value.

Nutritional Composition

• Edible insects contain proteins, lipids, polysaccharides (like chitin), vitamins, and minerals, comparable to meat in nutritional value (Orkusz, 2021).
• They provide essential amino acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids and are high in vitamin B12, iron, zinc, fiber, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, and antioxidants (Nowakowski et al., 2022).
• Nutrient content varies by species, feed composition, life stage, rearing conditions, processing, and analysis method (Orkusz, 2021, Payne et al., 2016a, Payne et al., 2016b, Oonincx & Finke, 2021, Janssen et al., 2017).
• Protein content is often estimated using the Kjeldahl method, which measures nitrogen content and uses a nitrogen-to-protein conversion factor of 6.25. This overestimates protein content by approximately 17% due to chitin's nitrogen content (Jonas-Levi & Martinez, 2017, Boulos et al., 2020).
• Proposed conversion factors include:
  • 5.6 for $T. molitor$, $A. diaperinus$, and $H. illucens$ (Janssen et al., 2017).
  • 5.41 for $T. molitor$, 5.25 for $A. domestica$, and 5.33 for $L. migratoria$ (Boulos et al., 2020).
  • An average of 5.33 for insects and 5.60 for insect protein isolates (Boulos et al., 2020).
  • 5.0 for crickets (Ritvanen et al., 2020).
• Insects generally have high protein (25-75% dry matter) and lipid (10-70% dry matter) contents (Oonincx & Finke, 2021).
• Crickets, locusts, and grasshoppers are particularly high in protein (Van Huis, 2020, Rumpold & Schlüter, 2013).
• Amino acid spectra generally meet WHO requirements (Rumpold & Schlüter, 2013).
• Fatty acid profiles are comparable to fish and chicken, with more polyunsaturated fatty acids (Rumpold & Schlüter, 2013).
• Insect chitin content ranges from 1.16 to 13.72mg/100g dry matter (Finke, 2007) and is similar to shrimp chitin (Melgar-Lalanne et al., 2019).
• Insects are rich in copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, selenium, and zinc, suitable for low-sodium diets, and a source of vitamin B12 (cobalamin) (Rumpold & Schlüter, 2013, Schmidt et al., 2019).

Health Benefits

• Edible insects may improve prevention of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancer (Bawa et al., 2020, Nowakowski et al., 2022, Roos and Van Huis, 2017, Usman and Abdullahi, 2022, Van Huis, 2020).
• Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity, beneficial against cardiovascular diseases and high blood pressure, is observed in $Galleria mellonella$, $T. molitor$, and $B. mori$ (Usman & Abdullahi, 2022).
• $T. molitor$ larvae may have anti-obesity effects (Seo et al., 2017).
• Edible insects have antioxidant and prebiotic properties (Van Huis, 2020).
• Daily consumption of 25g cricket powder increases growth of probiotic bacteria and shows beneficial effects on gut health and reduced systemic inflammation (Stull et al., 2018).
• Insect chitin may contribute to beneficial changes in gut microbiota diversity and has anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-tumour, and prebiotic properties (Refael et al., 2022, Sharbidre et al., 2021, Selenius et al., 2018, Sharbidre et al., 2021).

Food Safety

• Food safety issues include allergenic potential, anti-nutrient content, microbial safety, and chemical contamination.
• Insects naturally containing harmful substances (cyanogen, thiaminase, toxins) are not considered edible (Zagrobelny et al., 2009, Nishimune et al., 2000, Blum, 1994).
• Edible insects have allergenic potential, similar to other protein-containing foods.
• Insect allergens include tropomyosin and arginine kinase, leading to cross-reactivity between insects, crustaceans, and house dust mites (Caparros Megido et al., 2016, De Gier and Verhoeckx, 2018, Ribeiro et al., 2021, Wu et al., 2021).
• Chitin is also considered to have allergenic potential (Jantzen da Silva Lucas et al., 2020).
• Thermal treatments do not remove insect protein allergenicity (De Gier & Verhoeckx, 2018).
• Allergic reactions include gastrointestinal, respiratory, and skin reactions, as well as inhalation-related reactions (De Gier & Verhoeckx, 2018).
• Clear labelling and communication of allergenic potential is required, and insect-rearing workers need protection.
• Edible insects contain only trace amounts of anti-nutrients (tannin, phytic acid, oxalate) in acceptable quantities (Ekop et al., 2010, Oibiokpa et al., 2017, Sailo et al., 2020).
• Chitin could be an antinutritional factor affecting mineral bioavailability (Moruzzo, Riccioli, et al., 2021).
• Raw edible insects contain a high number and diversity of microbiota, including Enterobacteriaceae, fungi, lactic acid bacteria, mesophilic aerobes, spore-forming bacteria, and potential pathogens (Garofalo et al., 2019).
• Although there is no current proof, insects may act as vectors for pathogenic viruses or prions (Van der Fels-Klerx et al., 2018).
• Effective decontamination and good hygiene practices are necessary during rearing, processing, and storage (Garofalo et al., 2019).
• Studies show low levels of organic contaminants (dioxin compounds, pesticides) and metals (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sn, Zn) in edible insects (Poma et al., 2017, Poma et al., 2019).
• Post-harvest processing and feed substrate influence chemical contamination (Van der Fels-Klerx et al., 2018).
• Some insect species can accumulate heavy metals but may degrade mycotoxins and veterinary drugs (Meyer et al., 2021).
• Controlled rearing and processing environments, controlled feed substrates, effective decontamination processes, and good hygiene practices are essential for ensuring food safety.

Product Development

• Consumer acceptance of edible insects is low in many parts of the world (Hartmann and Siegrist, 2017a, Hartmann and Siegrist, 2017b).
• Potential consumers want information on preparation methods, ingredients, and appearance (Martins et al., 2022).
• Insect processing impacts product quality and taste, and insect lipids can be used as by-products of insect protein production.

Processing Methods

• Insect processing includes producing whole dried insects, insect powder, defatted insect powder, and extracting proteins, lipids, and chitin.
• Current technologies are similar to those used for conventional foods, with emerging technologies like high hydrostatic pressure, ultrasound, pulsed electric field, ohmic heating (Queiroz et al., 2023), and cold plasma (Bußler et al., 2016).
• Drying methods include sun drying, smoke drying, roasting, freeze-drying, oven-drying (Hernandez Alvarez et al., 2021), microwave-drying (Lenaerts et al., 2018), and pulsed electric field assisted drying (Shorstkii et al., 2022).
• The drying process affects insect quality, protein and lipid extraction efficiency, sensory characteristics, microbiological safety, shelf life, and bioactive compounds (Hernandez Alvarez et al., 2021).
• Different drying methods impact odor and sensory properties (Mishyna et al., 2020).
• Microwave-drying can be a good alternative to freeze-drying, with small changes to proximate composition and better lipid quality, although it may reduce vitamin B12 content (Lenaerts et al., 2018).
• Oven-drying at 60°C can improve the digestibility of $H. illucens$ larvae protein compared to microwave-drying (Huang et al., 2019).
• Insect powders and defatted powders are used in foods like bread (Kowalski et al., 2022), burgers, meatballs (Borges et al., 2022), and snacks.
• Adding insect flour to bakery products improves nutritional value but affects texture, volume, color, and sensory properties (Kowalski et al., 2022).
• Up to 10% insect powder in bread is generally acceptable (Kowalski et al., 2022, Osimani et al., 2018).
• Microbial contamination can be decreased by boiling or blanching before drying, using food preservatives, fermentation, infrared heating, instant control pressure drop technology, high hydrostatic pressure, and cold plasma (Yan et al., 2022).

Protein Extraction

• Insect proteins can be extracted based on solvent solubility, isoelectric precipitation, dry separation methods (air classification after milling), and physical separation methods (centrifugation or filtration) (Rumpold et al., 2017).
• Enzyme-assisted extraction using proteases is effective and sustainable for extracting high-quality proteins (Leni et al., 2020).
• Functional properties of insect proteins can be tailored by enzyme hydrolysis and by adjusting salts, temperature, concentration, incubation time, and pH (Leni et al., 2020, Zhao et al., 2016).
• Emerging technologies like high hydrostatic pressure, ultrasound, pulsed electric field, and ohmic heating also affect protein extraction and functionalisation (Queiroz et al., 2023).

Insect Oils

• Lipids are major components in insects after proteins (Aguilar, 2021, Rumpold and Schlüter, 2013).
• Lipid extraction methods include mechanical pressing, Soxhlet, aqueous, Folch extraction, conventional solvents (hexane, ethanol, methanol), three-phase partitioning, supercritical $CO_2$ (Laroche et al., 2019), ultrasound-assisted extraction, and pressurized liquid extraction (Otero et al., 2020).
• Lipid extraction influences lipid quality and composition and affects protein quality in subsequent protein extraction (Laroche et al., 2019).
• Potential applications for insect oils include replacing soy and fish oil in fish and poultry feed and use in food (Lorrette & Sanchez, 2022).
• $T. molitor$ larvae oil consists mainly of oleic acid (C18:1, 44%), linoleic acid (C18:2, 28%), and palmitic acid (C16:0, 18%), comparable to rice bran and peanut oil (Lorrette & Sanchez, 2022).
• $H. illucens$ prepupae fat is comparable to coconut and palm kernel oil (Borrelli et al., 2021) and contains high levels of lauric acid (C12:0, 23-62% of total fatty acids) (Franco et al., 2021), which has antibacterial properties (Borrelli et al., 2021).
• Insect-based margarine production can replace up to 75% of plant lipids with insect oils from $H. illucens$ and $T. molitor$ without negative effects on spreading abilities and with improved product coloring (Smetana et al., 2020).
• This results in a product with a lower environmental impact than butter but higher than conventional margarine; a 50% replacement is environmentally beneficial (Smetana et al., 2020).
• Insect oils from $Ruspolia differens$ have higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, flavonoids, and vitamin E than plant oils, but the aroma and taste of cookies made with these oils may be disliked (Cheseto et al., 2020).

Consumer Psychology and Behavior

• Factors influencing consumer behavior negatively include disgust, food neophobia, lack of information, no prior experience, and lack of interest.

Disgust

• Disgust is a major predictor of not wanting to eat insects in Western cultures (Kornher et al., 2019, La Barbera et al., 2017, Lammers et al., 2019, Ruby and Rozin, 2019, Russell and Knott, 2021).
• Disgust is a food-related emotion defined as revulsion at the prospect of oral incorporation of offensive objects (Rozin & Fallon, 1987).
• It is considered a rejection response protecting from 'bad' foods contaminated with pathogens and the risk of disease (Rottman et al., 2019, Val et al., 2004).
• Contagion concerns and disgust are closely related (Russell & Knott, 2021 Jensen & Lieberoth, 2019).
• Urbanization reinforces insect disgust (Fukano & Soga, 2021).
• Counteracting disgust involves:
  • Social influence (providing information about others consuming insects) (Russell and Knott, 2021, Sheppard and Frazer, 2015).
  • Describing how the product was made (Gumussoy et al., 2021).
• Disgust may result from deviation from internalized norms, causing intuitive rejection (Koch et al., 2021).
• Eating insects may be considered a threat to psychological and cultural identity (Looy et al., 2014), making 'disgusting foods' a socio-cultural construct (Kosonen, 2023).
• Disgust was not a predictor of willingness to consume insect products among Danish children (Erhard et al., 2023).
• Disgust can be used as an educational tool; it is a learned response shifting with knowledge about what is good to eat (Wade, 2021, Douglas, 1966).
• There is a negative correlation between disgust and sensation-seeking (Lammers et al., 2019, Rozin et al., 1993).

Food Neophobia

• Food neophobia is a reluctance to ingest unfamiliar or novel foods (Pliner & Hobden, 1992).
• It arises because many food sources may be toxic, making familiar foods safer (Pliner & Salvy, 2006).
• Reasons for rejecting food include dislike of sensory characteristics, fear of negative consequences, and disgust about the origin of the food (Rozin and Fallon, 1987).
• There is a strong positive correlation between food neophobia and disgust, though both independently contribute to the intention to eat insects (Pliner and Salvy, 2006, La Barbera et al., 2017).
• Neophobia explains consumer behavior of not being willing to consume insects (Hartmann et al., 2015, Orsi et al., 2019, Sogari et al., 2023, Sogari et al., 2018, Verbeke, 2015, Wassmann et al., 2021, White et al., 2023).
• In Turkey, food neophobia negatively correlated with intention to eat insects, and those high in food neophobia were nutrition-conscious (Oğuz & Türkmen, 2020).
• In Italy and Denmark, food neophobia and willingness to eat insects were clearly correlated (Toti et al., 2020, Chow et al., 2021).
• In Uganda, older consumers were more neophobic, while consumers with higher education had lower neophobia (Olum et al., 2020).
• Sensory education for children decreases food neophobia (Mustonen & Tuorila, 2010).
• While food neophobia may decrease over time, disgust is a more significant and substantial predictor (La Barbera et al., 2017, Ruby and Rozin, 2019).

Information and Prior Experience

• Positive information given after tasting improves product evaluation for unpleasant-tasting healthy foods (Suzuki & Park, 2018).
• Prior information influences attitudes to foods supplemented with edible insects (Barsics et al 2017).
• Sensory liking of mealworm-containing burgers was lower but increased after tasting (Tan et al., 2016).
• Providing information about edible insects correlates positively with willingness to consume them (Woolf et al., 2021).
• Interviewees were more willing to try insects after receiving information (Rumpold & Langen, 2019).
• Prior consumption of insects influences future willingness (Caparros Megido et al., 2014, Hartmann and Siegrist, 2016, Woolf et al., 2021).

Curiosity and Sensory Quality

• Curiosity or sensation-seeking motivates trying novel foods, balancing curiosity and fear (Nyberg et al., 2020).
• Curiosity is an important reason for trying insect-based foods (Sogari et al., 2017, Placentino et al., 2021, Bisconsin-Júnior et al., 2022, Ruby et al., 2015, Boeckx & Van Der Borght, 2014).
• Sensory quality is valued by those interested in insects as food (Lee and Bae, 2023).
• Improving sensory quality of insect-based products lowers product-related barriers to consumption (Schouteten et al., 2016, Tan et al 2017, Ardoin & Prinyawiwatkul, 2021).

Other Factors

• Hunger does not relate to willingness to eat insects in Western cultures (White et al., 2023).
• Religion influences consumption; insect consumption is lower among believers (Ogal et al., 2022, Slater, 2021).

Geographical and Cross-Cultural Differences

• Preferences vary across cultures.
• Western countries focus on nutritional value, sustainability, and tradition, while traditional insect-eating countries focus on sensory attributes and affordability (Florença et al., 2022).
• Willingness increases when insects are incorporated in food products in Western countries (Ruby et al., 2015).
• Thai participants found mealworms unappealing due to resemblance to maggots, unlike Dutch participants (Tan et al., 2015).
• Early adopters are more common in Thailand, while educated consumers in Bangkok view eating insects as primitive, unlike in Switzerland (Brunner and Nuttavuthisit, 2020).
• Chinese are more willing to eat insect-based food and rate it favorably (Hartmann et al., 2015, Sogari et al., 2023).
• Healthiness is a primary driver for acceptance, but aversion and dislike are significant barriers (Tzompa-Sosa, Sogari et al., 2023).
• Meat substitutes are more established in the Netherlands and Germany compared to France (Weinrich, 2018).
• Consumer willingness to buy insect food in Central Europe is related to product-related experiences and food neophobia, while Northern Europe has more positive attitudes (Piha et al., 2016).
• Norwegian consumers accept insects as food more than Portuguese consumers (Ribeiro et al., 2022), and Dutch participants trust consumer organizations more than Australian participants (Lensvelt & Steenbekkers, 2014).

Strategies to Convince Consumers

• About 25% of people in Western countries are willing to try edible insects (Galány et al., 2021, Jarchlo and King, 2021, Niva and Vainio, 2021).
• Positive acceptance is lower than other meat alternatives in Japan (Takeda et al., 2023), while insects score lowest in willingness to eat compared to seaweed and jellyfish in Italy (Palmieri et al., 2023).
• Attitude is high in tropical countries; over 80% of interviewees ate insects for taste and nutritional value in Nigeria (Ancha et al., 2021).
• Arguments highlighting nutritional value and low environmental impact are common but often insufficient.

Nutrition and Health

• Health aspects include nutritional adequacy and potential health-beneficial bioactivity (Van Huis et al., 2021).
• Nutritional value is comparable to meat products (Payne et al., 2016a, Payne et al., 2016b), though sometimes overrated (Ventanas et al., 2022).

Ground vs. Whole Insects

• Processed insects in food products are more accepted than whole insects (Baiano, 2020; Caparros Megido et al., 2014, Caparros Megido et al., 2016, Gmuer et al., 2016, Hartmann et al., 2015, Lammers et al., 2019, Orsi et al., 2019, Wilkinson et al., 2018, Zielińska et al., 2020, Van Huis, 2013, Van Huis et al., 2013).
• Invisible, processed mealworms are accepted when introduced in familiar products (Van Thielen et al., 2019).
• Adventurous people are motivated to consume whole insects (Riverso et al., 2023, Rovai et al., 2022).
• Deodorized yellow mealworm oil improves sensory experiences (Tzompa-Sosa et al., 2022, Tzompa-Sosa et al., 2023).

Deliciousness and Tasting

• Sensory characteristics affect participant experiences, and should be assessed (Hellwig et al., 2021).
• Taste is crucial in accepting insects as food (Halonen et al., 2022, Manditsera et al., 2018).
• Gastronomic and sensory advertising can overcome disgust (Moruzzo, Mancini, et al., 2021, DeRoy et al., 2015).
• Tasting experiments are context-specific (Hellwig et al., 2021).
• Positive attitudes increase after tasting (Lensvelt & Steenbekkers, 2014, Ventanas et al., 2022, Gurdian et al., 2022).
• Tasting sessions legitimize insects as a food source (Sogari et al., 2023).

Sustainability Arguments

• Consumers often have poor awareness of the environmental impact of meat production (Hartmann and Siegrist, 2017a, Hartmann and Siegrist, 2017b).
• Environmental impact information and low environmental impact increase willingness to try insects (Bao & Song, 2022, Halonen et al., 2022).
• Sympathy for sustainability does not automatically increase consumption (Wendin and Nyberg, 2021, Laureati et al., 2016, Simeone and Scarpato, 2022, Dagevos and Taufik, 2023).
• A consumer-centered insect market creates products desirable for their properties, not origin (Fischer, 2021).

Information and Information Providers

• Providing information about benefits increases intention to eat insects (Verneau et al., 2016, Schouteten et al., 2016).
• Familiarizing consumers with edible insects reduces food neophobia (White et al., 2023, Lensvelt & Steenbekkers, 2014).
• Information from scientists, relatives, the government, and product users increases willingness, but not from food producers or celebrities (Lensvelt and Steenbekkers, 2014).
• Advertisements with actors/actresses and athletes can influence males to eat insect-based foods (Park et al., 2022).

Targeting Specific Groups

• Demographics (geography, gender, age) do not affect the consumer messaging response in a significant way (Gere et al., 2020).
• Identify adopters to increase acceptance (Rovai, Michniuk, et al., 2021).
• Target adventurous eaters first (Rovai et al, 2022, Ardoin & Prinyawiwatkul, 2021).
• In Denmark, children with high neophobia levels rated insect products lower (Chow et al., 2021).
• Use of sensory and participatory activities and targeting peer culture increases childrens acceptance (Hémar-Nicolas et al., 2022, Harper & Sanders, 1975, Nyberg et al., 2020).
• In China, insect consumers are older, more educated, and male (Su et al., 2022).
• Target groups: age, gender (males), education level, income level, knowledge, interest in entomophagy, and children (Florença et al., 2022).
• Insect product consumers are health-conscious, environmentally friendly, imaginative, brave, interesting, and knowledgeable in Switzerland (Hartmann et al., 2018).

Marketing Strategies

• Emphasize positive emotions (adventurousness) (Ventanas et al., 2022).
• Develop products similar to the normal diet (Menozzi et al., 2017).
• Avoid displaying insect images on packaging (Meyer-Rochow & Hakko, 2018).
• Use abstract or stylistic representations (Kauppi, 2016, Pozharliev et al., 2023, Reverberi, 2021).
• Include attractive advertising and accessible distribution channels (Phonthanukitithaworn et al., 2021).
• Market in supermarkets rather than local markets (Alemu et al., 2017) or e-commerce (Reverberi, 2021).

Limitations and Future Research

• The field is very recent; perception may change rapidly.
• Studies are often not representative and use different methodologies.
• Cultural backgrounds may be less important than individual expectations and preferences.
• Incorporate insects into a regular diet for long-term acceptance.

Conclusion

• Insects are a potential food source for humans in the Western world.
• Nutritional value is comparable to meat products; insect products have been declared safe by food safety authorities.
• Processing improves insect ingredients and influences consumer acceptance.
• Sushi consumption predicts insect consumption (Ruby and Rozin, 2019).
• Western consumers have prejudices, complicating the introduction of insects into the diet (Moruzzo, Mancini, et al., 2021).
• Key issues are disgust and food neophobia.
• Information can improve taste experience.
• Environmental concerns may not drive consumers to insect-based food.
• Non-visible forms (ground etc.) increase acceptance except among adventurous types.
• Give consumers a tasting experience.
• Marketing should stress food attributes and consumer characteristics (Marquis et al., 2020).
• Target wealthy, health-conscious, environment-conscious, brave, imaginative, and unbiased children.
• Changing consumer attitudes takes time and requires finding triggers that will work for this new food item.