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Customer Acceptance, Barriers, and Preferences in the U.S.

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Edible Insects in Sustainable Food Systems

Abstract

While insect consumption occurs and is accepted throughout the world, acceptance and adoption of entomophagy is particularly low in the United States. This chapter investigates the current state of customer acceptance of edible insects in the United States, potential market segments, barriers to insect consumption, and marketing initiatives to minimize risk and maximize benefits. For customer acceptance in the U.S., cultural factors play a large role in low adoption. Potential market segments include consumers that are health conscious, environmentally conscious, and seek exciting, new, and novel food experiences. The major barriers to insect consumption include cultural barriers, food neophobia, perceptions of disgust, and risk factors. Therefore, it is important to investigate the marketing initiatives that can best minimize risk and maximize benefits such as image and description marketing, education, and public policy.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Isenberg School of Management, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA

    Melissa A. Baker

  2. Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel & Restaurant Management, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA

    Jungyoung Tiffany Shin

  3. Korean Edible Insect Laboratory Knowledge Cooperative Association, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Young Wook Kim

Authors
  1. Melissa A. Baker
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  2. Jungyoung Tiffany Shin
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  3. Young Wook Kim
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Melissa A. Baker .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg C, Denmark

    Afton Halloran

  2. Nordic Food Lab, Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg C, Denmark

    Roberto Flore

  3. FAO, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy

    Paul Vantomme

  4. Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg C, Denmark

    Nanna Roos

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Baker, M.A., Shin, J.T., Kim, Y.W. (2018). Customer Acceptance, Barriers, and Preferences in the U.S.. In: Halloran, A., Flore, R., Vantomme, P., Roos, N. (eds) Edible Insects in Sustainable Food Systems . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74011-9_24

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