Giménez-Sanchis Adrián, Zhong Kui, Pintor Aurora, Farina Vittorio, Besada Cristina
Sensory and Consumer Science Research Group, Postharvest Department, Valencian Institute of Agricultural Research Crta Moncada-Náquera km. 4.5, 46113 Valencia, Spain.
Food and Agriculture Standardization Institute, China National Institute of Standardization, Beijing 100191, China.
Foods. 2022 Sep 2;11(17):2686. doi: 10.3390/foods11172686.
Understanding consumer perceptions and attitudes to specific fruit is key information for not only increasing fruit consumption, but also for marketing reasons. It may also give clues to breeders to set quality objectives. This study explores different aspects that help to explain blood vs. blond orange consumption: availability and consumption habit, satisfaction attributes, facilitators and consumption barriers, consumption contexts, expectations and purchase intention. The study was conducted in China, Mexico, Spain and Italy, where citrus fruit consumers were invited to respond an online questionnaire. Our results revealed Italy as the country with the highest availability and consumption of blood oranges, followed by China, Mexico and Spain. "Liking" and "healthy properties" were the most important reasons for consumption irrespectively of orange type, but certain differences among countries were detected in secondary reasons. In all the countries, "juicy" was the most relevant attribute for consumer satisfaction, followed by flavour/taste attributes. "Aromatic" and "unfibrous" were substantial requirements for Italians and Chinese, while Spaniards attached importance to the blood oranges colour. Regarding consumption contexts, "eat with salt or chilly powder" was specific for Mexico, while "to improve health", "as a gift" or "at a restaurant" were contexts mainly cited in China. Despite taste preferences for other fruit being the main consumption barrier in all the countries for both orange types, the relevance of other barriers depended on culture and orange type. Mexican participants seemed to take a more neophobic attitude to blood oranges, while "inconvenient" was reported as a barrier for consuming blond ones in Spain and China. We conclude that blond and blood oranges can co-exist on markets at a high consumption rate, as in Italy. Specific interventions are needed in other countries because consumer attitudes to oranges, mainly blood ones, depend on culture.
了解消费者对特定水果的认知和态度，不仅是增加水果消费量的关键信息，也是出于营销目的的关键信息。它还可能为育种者设定质量目标提供线索。本研究探讨了有助于解释血橙与普通橙子消费差异的不同方面：可得性和消费习惯、满意度属性、促进因素和消费障碍、消费场景、期望和购买意愿。该研究在中国、墨西哥、西班牙和意大利进行，邀请柑橘类水果消费者在线回答问卷。我们的结果显示，意大利是血橙可得性和消费量最高的国家，其次是中国、墨西哥和西班牙。无论橙子类型如何，“喜欢”和“健康属性”都是消费的最重要原因，但在次要原因方面发现了各国之间的某些差异。在所有国家，“多汁”是消费者满意度最相关的属性，其次是风味/口感属性。“芳香”和“无纤维”是意大利人和中国人的重要要求，而西班牙人则重视血橙的颜色。关于消费场景，“搭配盐或辣椒粉食用”是墨西哥特有的，而“改善健康”、“作为礼物”或“在餐厅食用”是中国主要提到的场景。尽管对其他水果的口味偏好是所有国家两种橙子类型消费的主要障碍，但其他障碍的相关性取决于文化和橙子类型。墨西哥参与者似乎对血橙持更恐惧新事物的态度，而在西班牙和中国，“不方便”被报告为食用普通橙子的障碍。我们得出结论，普通橙子和血橙可以像在意大利那样以高消费率在市场上共存。其他国家需要采取特定的干预措施，因为消费者对橙子，主要是血橙的态度取决于文化。
