Consumers' associations with herbal infusions and home preparation practices. (December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rocha, C.; Moura, A.P.; Cunha, L.M.
• Is Part Of: Food quality and preference. Volume 86(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-12
• Subjects: Auto-videography -- Behavioral questionnaire -- Free word association -- Herbal infusions -- Quantitative observational study -- Steeping time; Food preferences -- Periodicals; Food -- Quality -- Periodicals; Food industry and trade -- Quality control -- Periodicals; Préférences alimentaires -- Périodiques; Aliments -- Qualité -- Périodiques; Aliments -- Industrie et commerce -- Qualité -- Contrôle -- Périodiques; Food industry and trade -- Quality control; Food preferences; Food -- Quality; Periodicals; 664
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2020.104006
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0950-3293

Abstract

Highlights: Study reports home preparation practices observation and consumers' associations. Participants refer using colour intensity to determine steeping duration. Participants prepare the infusions with very short steeping times. Emotions and wellbeing are main drivers of consumption for herbal infusions. Educational level had an impact on the perceptions of less frequent consumers. Abstract: The consumption of infusions is affected by many factors, namely those associated with culture, health and sensory properties. The main goal of this research was to explore and understand consumers' perceptions and behaviours regarding consumption and preparation of herbal infusions, applying a mixed methodology: the evaluation of consumers' behaviours, assessed through direct self-reported measures, and indirect methods, such as free word association and auto-videography. A total of 489 Portuguese consumers replied to a web-based questionnaire. Based on their frequency of consumption and availability, 60 participants were selected for an observational study. Over 27% of the participants had at least a daily cup of herbal infusion, and over 74% had it at least every week. At home, participants reported the use of teapots (44.1%) or mugs/cups (52.0%) to prepare their infusions, and mostly chose bags (77.7%). Approximately 80% of the respondents removed the bags or loose leaves after steeping, mainly based on the infusion colour (53.1%). The freeword association results show that daily and weekly consumers establish a stronger connection with the sensory, emotional, health and wellbeing dimensions of the product, while less frequent consumers only consider the composition of the herbal infusion. From the observational study, it was noticeable that most of the consumers take less than one minute to steep the infusions, clearly below the four to ten minutes recommended for the most popular herbal infusions, like lemon verbena or peppermint. These results emphasize the need for communication strategies focused on the preparation process to give consumers tools to improve their sensory experience.