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Do Consumers Change Their Perception of Liking, Expected Satiety, and Healthiness of a Product If They Know It Is a Ready-to Eat Meal?

A ready-to-eat meal is a prepared meal within a container or package that requires little preparation or heating before consumption. Despite ready-to-eat meals being widely consumed, to date, little information is available on the consumers’ perceptions of such products in comparison to a homemade m...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Laguna, Laura, Gómez, Beatriz, Garrido, María D., Fiszman, Susana, Tarrega, Amparo, Linares, María B.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7554869/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32911661
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/foods9091257
Descripción
Sumario:A ready-to-eat meal is a prepared meal within a container or package that requires little preparation or heating before consumption. Despite ready-to-eat meals being widely consumed, to date, little information is available on the consumers’ perceptions of such products in comparison to a homemade meal. Thus, three groups of eighty participants took part in the present study; each group evaluated five ready-to-eat meals (Pasta, Meatballs, Salad, Beans, and a Sandwich) using one of the following conditions: (i) observation of the packaging, (ii) observation of the meal on a plate (photographs), and (iii) tasting the ready-to-eat product with the packaging being presented alongside the meal. Consumers were asked about their liking, satiety, and healthiness perception. The results showed that both the ready-to-eat pack and sensory quality of the product highly impact liking and healthiness perceptions. Being a ready-to-eat meal in a pack has a negative impact on liking expectations of the meal; however, the sensory quality can either counteract these effects or increase them. Expected satiety of meals depends on the type of meal and varies slightly according to the evaluation condition.