Nina Veflen is a Professor of Innovation, co-founder of the Centre for Multisensory Marketing (CMM), and Associate Dean of the MSc in Strategic Marketing Management program at BI Norwegian Business School. She earned her Dr. Oecon degree from BI and has previously served as a senior researcher at Nofima and Aarhus University, and as a Professor of Marketing at the University of South-Eastern Norway. Additionally, she has been a visiting scholar at Stanford University and led multiple international research projects.
Her research interests focus on managerially relevant topics within sensory marketing and service design, across various contexts such as food, retail, health, and tourism. She has published over 80 articles, books, and book chapters on multisensory experiences, design thinking, innovation, technology acceptance, risk behavior, risk communication, networks, sustainability, and healthy aging. Her work has appeared in prominent journals, including Trends in Food Science and Technology, Appetite, Food Quality and Management, Risk Analyses, Tourism Management, European Journal of Marketing, and Journal of Service Management.
Nina teaches and supervises students at the bachelor’s, master’s, PhD, and executive levels on topics such as design-driven innovation, pricing management, service design, and sensory marketing. She is often invited to be a keynote speaker at academic, and industry events and serves as a qualified advisory board member. She collaborates closely with practitioners to address real-world challenges through rigorous research. Her previous research collaborations include large companies such as IKEA, Unilever, Tine, Nortura, Vion Food Group, Danish Crown, DNT, Skistar, and numerous SMEs.
Purpose The world is getting older but healthier, making the over-65s healthy aging the only age-based growth segment in developed countries. This article offers a new perspective on healthy aging consumers and examines how service firms can use smart technologies, such as intelligent automation (IA), artificial intelligence (AI), and service robots, to improve their customer experience (CX). Design/methodology/approach This conceptual article draws insights from the literature on healthy aging in consumer behavior, psychology, and medicine, amongst others, and the literature in service management and marketing on technology. Findings This article first demonstrates the attractiveness of the healthy over-65s segment to service firms. Second, it addresses the previously overlooked healthy aging segment in consumer research, connecting it to the evolving physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional responses of older adults in service settings. Third, it advances how service firms can use smart technologies to improve the healthy aging’s CX in the contexts of hedonic and utilitarian services delivered in physical and digital service environments. Practical implications This paper focuses service firms on their fastest-growing segment, that is, healthy older consumers. It provides recommendations on how service firms can use smart technologies to serve this segment better. Originality/value This article opens a new stream of service research on healthy aging and technology.
Intrinsic and extrinsic sensory elements influence our food experiences. However, most research on extrinsic multisensory aspects of food has centered on WEIRD (White, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) urban participants. This study breaks from this trend by investigating multisensory food experiences in the context of Northern Norway, a region characterized by distinct seasonal shifts, harsh arctic weather, unique atmospheric phenomena (e.g., the midnight sun and northern lights), limited food growth opportunities, and a rich Sámi cultural heritage. Our aim was to unravel the formation and development of multisensory food experiences within a culturally and environmentally specific framework. Our exploratory research used participant observation and interviews, involving four researchers from diverse backgrounds who closely examined multisensory food experiences within four Northern Norwegian food-related tourism businesses, all infused with Sámi cultural elements. Our findings suggest four major themes: (1) Experience elements, involving elements associated with plants, animals, and inanimate objects; (2) Bipolar concepts, which refer to opposing dimensions where experience elements varied, notably in the interplay between Sámi and Norwegian traditions; (3) Sensory stories, which highlight the narratives, enriching the eating experience with context, such as tales of dining under the captivating northern lights; and (4) Values, which indicate guiding principles shaping these experiences on a broader scale, emphasizing support for local traditions and culture. Our main contribution is the presentation of a new contextual framework of multisensory food experiences, which can be applicable to studying food experiences in other contexts.
Background: Food safety risk communication is part of the risk analysis methodology and plays an important role in the increasingly complex food system. Besides shaping consumer risk awareness, risk perception and risk behaviour, risk communication also affects the reputation of the food safety authorities, being especially important for securing operational stability and budget of the concerned organisations. A recent European study highlighted a high variance in risk communication preparedness of official institutions in EU member countries. Scope and approach: This paper presents a benchmarking instrument, the Self-evaluation Tool for Risk Communication (SET), designed for food safety authorities. SET helps decision-makers to receive a quick assessment of their preparedness level for risk communication by comparing it with international best practices. Key findings and conclusions: SET divides risk communication competencies into three domains: Human capacities, Organisational management, and Risk communication activities. Several elements are assessed in each domain, evaluated on a scale from 0 to 3. The results are delivered instantly, benchmarking the scores in terms of domains and the individual elements. The data wheel visualization highlights strengths and weaknesses and points out logical improvement options for the organisation.
Research on multisensory food perception suggests that most of our senses can influence eating experiences (Spence, 2020). The present research evaluates how different senses are engaged across country-specific eating experiences. Our goal is to explore each country's prototypical multisensory eating experience throughout the seasons. In Study 1A and 1B, we used the Sensory Perception Item (SPI) scale by Haase and Wiedmann (2018) in Norway (n = 104, M age = 40.73) and Colombia (n = 130, M age = 37.81), to assess how visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, and gustatory dimensions are engaged in each country’s specific eating experiences and across seasons (Norway: Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring; Colombia: Humid, Dry, Cold, Hot). All of the sensory dimensions in Norway, except touch, were significantly influenced by seasons. In Colombia, seasons and climates were only significant for touch and olfaction. In Study 2A and 2B, we evaluated specific sensory components of the eating experiences in Norway (n = 83, M age = 39.1) and Colombia (n = 64, M age = 40.64). Seasons significantly affected several sensory dimensions of the eating experiences in Norway but not in Colombia. Furthermore, we obtained keywords that reflected participants eating experiences across the four seasons. This study provides insights on how the statistical regularities of food experience environments might change throughout certain seasons, climates, and geographical contexts. Restaurant managers can think of changing the ambience settings of the dining rooms to match the image people associate with each season, transferring the external environment into the internal dining atmosphere as one of the innovative ways to enhance eating experiences.
In 2014 a food scare following a report on antibiotic resistant bacteria in chicken fillets led to a dramatic drop in sales of chicken. Actors in the food chain as well as the authorities were unprepared for the consequences of the case. The study investigated how risk communicators coped with the crisis through in-depth interviews with 14 relevant actors. The case study illustrated how delayed risk communication from authorities opened for stakeholders with contradictory views and other agendas. Further, although the risk communicators were aware of the concept of risk perception, they may not truly acknowledge the power triggering emotions.
Langsrud, Solveig; Veflen, Nina Jeanette, Allison, Rosalie, Crawford, Bob, Izsó, Tekla, Kasza, Gyula, Lecky, Donna M., Nicolau, Anca Ioana, Scholderer, Joachim, Skuland, Silje Elisabeth & Teixeira, Paula (2023)
A trans disciplinary and multi actor approach to develop high impact food safety messages to consumers: Time for a revision of the WHO - Five keys to safer food?
Background A significant part of foodborne infections is caused by food eaten at home, and food safety messages are given to help consumers mitigate risk. The World Health Organisation “Five Keys to Safer Food”, developed about 20 years ago has been used with success worldwide to provide general advice on how to prepare food safely. Scope and approach In this commentary, we discuss how food safety messages could be updated using a holistic approach built on implementation science, considering new food consumption patterns and insights from natural and social sciences. A stepwise approach for developing and evaluating food safety messages, performed in the European project SafeConsume, is presented. The top pathogen-food combinations associated with foodborne disease in Europe were combined with common consumer practices to identify risky behaviours. Food safety messages were suggested and assessed for understanding as well as capability, opportunity, and motivation in an expert survey. Key findings and conclusions Overall, the food safety topics developed overlapped with those from WHO. The opportunity and motivation for changing behaviour, (e.g., choose pasteurised egg) were identified as important restrictions for uptake of messages. Also, understanding terminology, (e.g “thoroughly cooked”) was a challenge. Therefore, there is a need to be specific, without excluding other safe alternatives or make lengthy explanations. The food safety messages suggested by the expert group were considered as more likely to be implemented among domestic cooks, resulting in safer practice than corresponding WHO messages. WHO should reconsider the preventive risk communication based on new knowledge and challenges.
Veflen, Nina Jeanette & Bánáti, Diána (2023)
Ethics in Food Safety Management
Motarjemi, Yasmine; Andersen, Veslemøy Eva Margrethe & Lelieveld, Huub (red.). Food Safety Management. A Practical Guide for the Food Industry.
This paper questions whether manufacturers can utilize visual packaging cues, in particular colours and shapes, to communicate the intrinsic attributes of cheeses. While the existence of crossmodal correspondences between packaging shapes and tastes have been demonstrated in previous food studies, we still need knowledge about how the interaction of colour and shape of the packaging that the cheese is sold influence customers’ expectations of taste and liking. Throughout two studies, we illustrate that specific shapes and colours communicate certain cheese tastes. In study 1, we found that, while a mild tasting cheese is associated with round shapes, high colour brightness and low colour saturation, a sharp tasting cheese is associated with an angular shape, lower level of colour brightness and higher level of colour saturation. This knowledge can be utilized to communicate taste via the design of the packaging. In study 2, we moved on to test this via packaging. We found that a round shaped packaging combined with high colour brightness and low colour saturation communicates a mild taste, whereas a triangular shape packaging combined with a low colour brightness/ high saturation signals a sharper tasting cheese. Moreover, a round packaging elicits the highest degree of liking. Our findings demonstrate that multiple sensory elements of a product’s packaging can enhance respondents’ taste expectations and expected liking of a product. In conclusion, this paper offers guidance to managers seeking to design packaging that communicates the flavour of food products, specifically for cheeses.
Veflen, Nina & Gonera, Antje (2023)
Perceived usefulness of design thinking activities for transforming research to impact.
Empirical studies that investigate the effect of design thinking within complex contexts involving multiple stakeholders are rare. The aim of this study is to contribute to the literature on design thinking, by investigating the perceived usefulness of including design thinking activities into a complex research project for food safety. A survey was distributed to all participants in SafeConsume, a Horizon 2020 research project, to measure perceived usefulness of design thinking activities such as collaborative workshops, visualization tools and empathic observation studies. Bivariate correlations and one-way ANOVAs were conducted in JMP Pro 14. The results indicate that design thinking activities may be useful also for large food safety projects. Multidisciplinary collaborative workshops can generate optimism and a sense of belonging among the participants, visualization tools can contribute to simplify complex information, and empathic observation studies makes it easier to think user centric. This study is one of few that quantitatively investigate the perceived usefulness of implementing design thinking into a multidisciplinary research project, and the findings contribute to a better understanding of the perceived effects of implementing design thinking into a large complex food safety research projects.
We evaluated how beer colour and glass type interact when it comes to forming beer expectations. Following previous research, we predicted that, given that colour is a dominant feature in food and beverage expectations, it would modulate the effects of glass type on beer expectations. One hundred and ninety-five participants from the United Kingdom took part in the experiment, which followed a 6 × 7 within-participants experimental design, with factors glass type (Pilsner, Pint, Tulip, Chalice, Weissbier, and Mug) and colour (yellow, blue, brown, orange, black, red, and green). Our results revealed that whilst colour influenced the expectations-based sensory-discriminative, hedonic, and willingness to pay (WTP) ratings, glass type influenced all variables but intensity and WTP. Importantly, all the variables for which glass type had a main effect were followed by a significant interaction. The results indicate that, the extent to which an extrinsic beer element, namely glass, influences expectations, depends on the associations that people have with colour, an intrinsic beer property closely related to beer type. We discuss the implications of our results for the design of beer expectations.
Food-related consumer decisions have an impact on the environment. However, trending patterns of sustainable consumption often pose a challenge for food-safety authorities: these initiatives may unintentionally compromise food safety. The objective of this review is to support public agencies in the integration of sustainability issues into food-safety risk communication schemes. Environmentally conscious but risky behaviors aimed at the reduction of food waste and plastic packaging were chosen for discussion and scrutinized based on expert opinions. Those expert opinions clearly indicated that a significant part of environmentally conscious behaviors, such as removing mold, eating expired perishable food, overstoring leftovers, avoiding single-use plastic packaging even when cross-contamination is a threat, and using reusable bags without cleaning for a long time, often contribute to food-safety risks. Short, easy-to-remember messages were collected for each recognized risky behavior; they concentrated on prevention or providing an alternative that was still environmentally sensible but kept food-safety risks low (such as planning ahead to avoid leftovers, freezing leftovers in time, and sanitizing reusable bags). The identified challenges and solutions might encourage authorities to rethink their risk-communication practices and integrate a sustainability aspect in them.
Veflen, Nina & Teixeira, Paula (2022)
Food safety myths consequences for health: A study of reported gastroenteritis incidence and prevalence in UK, Norway and Germany
Food safety beliefs are not always science based. In this study, we aim to contribute to the state of the art of food safety knowledge by investigating unscientific beliefs consequences for gastroenteritis. After collecting food safety myths across Europe, we conducted a web-based survey on a representative sample of consumers from UK, Germany and Norway (N = 3110) to investigate what food safety myths people believe to be true, and if these beliefs influence gastroenteritis incidences and prevalence. The results show that a large share of the population believe in food safety myths, in the worst cases more than 70% report to believe myths to be facts and believing in many of these myths correlates positively with gastroenteritis incidences and prevalence. The largest correlations are observed for unscientific beliefs about eggs (such as storing eggs at room temperature and eating raw eggs to cure hangover), bacteria inactivation (that a wooden cutting board, and chili, wasabi and marinades kills bacteria), that vegetarians don't get food poisoning, and that eating dirt and having a diarrhea is good since it cleans up the stomach. In the discussion, we explain the negative consequences by linking the food safety myths to science-based food safety knowledge. This is the first study linking unscientific beliefs to gastroenteritis. Future studies need to investigate the mechanisms explaining why beliefs in food safety myths correlate with gastroenteritis incidences and prevalence. Studies investigating behavior change methods, including but not limited to correcting false beliefs are also needed.
Koch, Alexander; Mønster, Dan, Nafziger, Julia & Veflen, Nina (2022)
Food safety related efficacy beliefs, behaviors, beliefs in myths, and the effects of educational online interventions: Data from an online survey experiment with 1,973 consumers from Norway and the UK.
Data were collected in a randomized controlled trial of a game-based online intervention aimed at fostering awareness of food safety and risk-reducing behavior among consumers. 1,973 participants from the UK and Norway, aged 18–89 years, were assigned to (i) a control condition, or (ii) exposed to a brief information video, or (iii) in addition played an online game (two different conditions). In all conditions, participants answered a pre- and post-survey with seven days in between. The surveys comprised questions on sociodemographic background, preferences related to food, recent food safety behaviors and beliefs in the efficacy of a number of food safety actions, as well as beliefs in myths related to food and hygiene. Efficacy beliefs (13 questions in the pre- and post-surveys) capture how an individual thinks particular actions will affect the likelihood of contracting food-borne disease. Beliefs in myths (8 questions in the pre- and post-surveys) refer to commonly held ‘true-or-false’ beliefs with no base in scientific facts. Target behavior (21 questions in the pre- and post-surveys) refer to self-reported food safety behaviors that were targeted in the interventions. Additional questions address beliefs and behavior in relevant food safety areas that were not targeted in the interventions. The survey items related to beliefs and behaviors were based on or inspired by previous work of the SafeConsume EU consortium (www.safeconsume.eu). In the information condition, participants watched a two-minute information video about food safety. Participants were given information about five broad themes: personal hygiene (hand washing), kitchen hygiene (cleaning utensils and surfaces), washing fresh vegetables and fruits, not rinsing meat or poultry, checking the temperature of cooked meat or poultry. In the game conditions, participants first watched an information video (either the neutrally framed one from the information condition or a version with pictures framed to trigger a disgust reaction). Then participants prepared four recipes in an online game, where they were repeatedly confronted with food safety related actions. After each recipe, participants received feedback on how they handled a number of important food safety actions. Our survey measures provide scholars and practitioners with data from adults in Norway and the UK to perform analyses regarding consumers’ knowledge and behavior related to food safety. Data and the replication code for the associated research article Koch et al. [3] are accessible at Koch et al. [4].
Koch, Alexander; Mønster, Dan, Nafziger, Julia & Veflen, Nina (2022)
Fostering safe food handling among consumers: Causal evidence on game- and video-based online interventions
We design a game-based online intervention to foster awareness of food safety and risk-reducing behavior among consumers. 1087 participants, aged 20–50 years, and additional 886 participants, aged up to 89 years, from the UK and Norway were assigned to (i) a control condition with pre- and post-survey measures of food safety beliefs and behaviors with a one-week spacing, or (ii) in addition exposed to a brief information video, or (iii) in addition played an online game. Both intervention types improved food safety beliefs to a similar extent relative to control. But only the game interventions significantly improved self-reported food safety behavior, suggesting that providing information to consumers often is not sufficient to change routinized behavior. The novel insight of our study is that repeatedly applying correct behavior in the virtual environment of the online game spills over to real-world behavior. Importantly, treatment effects are not concentrated on young people, but are consistent across age groups.
Elvekrok, Ingunn; Veflen, Nina, Scholderer, Joachim & Sørensen, Bjarne T. (2022)
Effects of network relations on destination development and business results
Taking a firm perspective, this study investigates cooperation in a destination network in a mountain village in Norway. 51 organizations participated in a survey, indicating their main cooperation partners and assessing the value of each cooperation in terms of ten intermediary benefits (increased sales, reduced costs, etc.) and two ultimate outcomes (business results, destination development). Firms perceived a cooperation to contribute to business results if the cooperation had led to increased sales or made the firm more resilient to market fluctuations. Firms perceived a cooperation to contribute to destination development if the cooperation had led to new knowledge, improved customer satisfaction, and hat not simply helped improve operations. The findings demonstrate the interconnectedness of intermediate and ultimate relationship outcomes on firm and destination level. The study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of network relations, relevant to the literature on relational benefits and destination development.
Previous research has suggested that people prefer balanced over unbalanced plating compositions. Importantly, though, the question remains as to whether plating balance influences consumers' associations of plating with approach and avoidance motivation. In the present research, we study how plating balance influence people's aesthetic evaluations and approach and avoidance associations. In addition, based on the idea that context can influence aesthetic evaluations, we manipulate whether the different plates are presented in regular dining or high-end restaurant scenarios. Throughout two experiments we extend previous findings suggesting that plating balance influences aesthetic pleasure. We find that balanced plates are considered more aesthetically pleasing than unbalanced plates. Furthermore, we demonstrate that people associate balanced plates more (less) strongly with approach (avoidance) words relative to unbalanced plates. Notably, our analysis failed to reveal an effect of plating context on either aesthetic pleasure or approach and avoidance ratings. This suggests that balance may be a robust feature in aesthetic plating when it comes to its influence on these variables.
Veflen, Nina & Ueland, Øydis (2021)
From Food Product to Food Experience: How to Use Design Thinking to Service Vulnerable Populations and Improve Their Food Well-Being
Wided, Batat (red.). Design Thinking for Food Well-being: The Art of Designing Innovative Food Experiences
Previous studies indicate that many consumers eat rare hamburgers and that information about microbiological hazards related to undercooked meat does not necessarily lead to changed behavior. With this study we aim to investigate whether consumers’ willingness to eat hamburgers, both risky and safe, depends on the situation where they are confronted with the food. A representative sample of 1046 Norwegian consumers participated in a web experiment. Participants were randomly divided into four groups. Each group was told to imagine a specific eating situation (at their friend's place, at home, at a restaurant abroad, at a domestic restaurant). Four pictures of hamburgers (rare, medium rare, medium, well-done) were presented in randomized order, and participants rated their intentions to eat each hamburger. Situated risk perception was measured as the stated likelihood of food poisoning from consuming hamburgers in eight different situations. The results show that both risk perception and risk taking vary depending on the situation. In general, participants perceive their own home to be the safest place to consume a hamburger, but they are significantly more likely to consume an undercooked hamburger when at a friend's place. These findings indicate that situations play an important role for consumers' likelihood of eating unsafe food, and that risk taking does not always follow risk perception. That risk taking is elevated in situations that may have social consequences should be taken into consideration when developing food safety strategies.
Veflen, Nina Jeanette; Scholderer, Joachim & Langsrud, Solveig (2020)
Situated Food Safety Risk and the Influence of Social Norms
Previous studies of risk behaviour observed weak or inconsistent relationships between risk perception and risk-taking. One aspect that has often been neglected in such studies is the situational context in which risk behaviour is embedded: even though a person may perceive a behaviour as risky, the social norms governing the situation may work as a counteracting force, overriding the influence of risk perception. Three food context studies are reported. In Study 1 (N = 200), we assess how norm strength varies across different social situations, relate the variation in norm strength to the social characteristics of the situation, and identify situations with consistently low and high levels of pressure to comply with the social norm. In Study 2 (N = 502), we investigate how willingness to accept 15 different foods that vary in terms of objective risk relates to perceived risk in situations with low and high pressure to comply with a social norm. In Study 3 (N = 1200), we test how risk-taking is jointly influenced by the perceived risk associated with the products and the social norms governing the situations in which the products are served. The results indicate that the effects of risk perception and social norm are additive, influencing risk-taking simultaneously but as counteracting forces. Social norm had a slightly stronger absolute effect, leading to a net effect of increased risk-taking. The relationships were stable over different social situations and food safety risks and did not disappear when detailed risk information was presented.
Veflen, Nina; Scholderer, Joachim & Elvekrok, Ingunn (2019)
Composition of Collaborative Innovation Networks: An Investigation of Process Characteristics and Outcomes
In this study we test how different ways of composing collaborative action networks influence food innovation. Networks have received considerable attention in the literature and are perceived to enhance the likelihood of innovation success by overcoming resource and capability deficiencies. While previous studies of collaborate innovation in the food sector have been mostly qualitative case studies of one or a few networks, we compare 96 networks which were all structured according to the same network template. After content-analysing archive data, we estimated a vector-generalised linear model with binomial response distributions and probit link functions; with network composition as the predictor and the innovation process charateristics and outcomes as response variables. Our findings show that differently composed manufacturer networks lead to different outcomes and different process characteristics. We find that strong management and coordination of activities are more important for heterogeneous manufacturer networks than for homogeneous manufacturer networks, and that vertically composed networks with suppliers contribute to efficiency gains to a higher extent than networks consisting solely of manufacturers.
Social norms are beliefs about what people in general would consider appropriate behaviour in a particular social context. In this mini-review, we summarise research on the role of social norms in the context of safe food handling practices. We review existing evidence regarding the influence of social norms on food handling practices related to cross-contamination and hygiene, time-temperature control and adequate cooking. Furthermore, we discuss the consequences of biases in social norms and how they might be mitigated by norm-oriented risk communication messages. Finally, we discuss potential conflicts between norms that are instrumental for safe food handling practices and norms that are instrumental for maintaining social relationships, and suggest directions for future research
Online communities can be an attractive source of ideas for product and process innovations. However, innovative user‐contributed ideas may be few. From a perspective of harnessing “big data” for inbound open innovation, the detection of good ideas in online communities is a prob- lem of detecting rare events. Recent advances in text analytics and machine learning have made it possible to screen vast amounts of online information and automatically detect user‐contributed ideas. However, it is still uncertain whether the ideas identified by such systems will also be regarded as sufficiently novel, feasible and valuable by firms who might decide to develop them further. A validation study is reported in which 200 posts from an online home brewing commu- nity were extracted by an automatic idea detection system. Two professionals from a brewing company evaluated the posts in terms of idea content, idea novelty, idea feasibility and idea value. The results suggest that the automatic idea detection system is sufficiently valid to be deployed for the harvesting and initial screening of ideas, and that the profile of the identified ideas (in terms of novelty, feasibility and value) follows the same pattern identified in studies of user ide- ation in general
This study investigates the value of constructed regional triple-helix networks for participating firms. Although participation in such networks is encouraged, the documentation of firm benefits is limited. The results from this longitudinal case study and survey study indicate that the primary benefits from network participation are increased access to knowledge and improved ability to meet challenges. Important characteristics of well-functioning networks are having a committed manager and common activities that build relationships. Lack of resources dedicated to networking limit a firm’s outcome, while participating in joint projects enhances it. The study contributes to the literature on network benefits and regional innovation policies.
Veflen, Nina; Storstad, Oddveig, Samuelsen, Bendik Meling, Langsrud, Solveig, Hagtvedt, Therese, Ueland, Øydis, Gregersen, Fredrik Alexander & Scholderer, Joachim (2017)
The aim of this study is to investigate consumers’ reflections and reactions to a food scare news story. Previous studies indicate that risk communication not always is able to influence people’s behavior and that pre-existing attitudes may influence people’s reactions and reflections. In this study, we investigate how consumers critically reflect and emotionally react to a food scare, here defined as risk communication that spirals public anxiety over food safety incidents, and leads to an unwanted escalation in media attention. Fall 2014, a researcher from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health said in a newspaper interview that she never touched chicken with her bare hands. This interview was the beginning of a media storm, which resulted in a dramatic drop in sales of chicken. In this study, we explore a small group of consumers’ reflections and reactions to this news article. Data from five focus group interviews with Norwegian consumers of chicken were transcribed, content analyzed, and coded, before we conducted a multiple correspondence analysis and a hierarchical cluster analysis in JMP Pro 12. The findings indicate that consumers do reflect when confronted with a food scare story. Some question the research behind the news, others compare the food scare’s danger to other risks. Even though consumers do reflect around the facts in the food scare article, their emotions seem to affect their behavior more systematic than their reflections.
Understanding the interaction of sensory and extrinsic product attributes in consumer preferences has been identified as one of the key pillars for raising the likelihood of food products’ success in the market. Over the course of the last decade there has been increased attention on research emphasizing a combination of these food-choice driving parameters. This paper discusses progress made in the field focusing on three groups of methods: (i) conjoint hedonic methods (ii) “classic” hedonic testing and (iii) alternative descriptive approaches. For each method a description of the methodology in question, its objectives, advantages, drawbacks and applications are examined. Industrial challenges and future research needs are discussed.
Hanssen, Ole Jørgen; Vold, Mie, Schakenda, Vibeke, Tufte, Per Arne, Møller, Hanne, Olsen, Nina Veflen & Skaret, Josefine (2016)
Environmental profile, packaging intensity and food waste generation for three types of dinner meals
This study was carried out as part of the packaging optimization program in Norway, and the purpose was to study waste generation, energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG)-emissions from the whole product value chain of meals prepared from fresh ingredients at home, based in semi-prepared ingredients or as ready to eat meals. Consumer attitudes to ready to eat meals was also included in the study. The study was done with basis in Life Cycle Assessment methodologies and Material Flow Analyses, based in real cooking situations and experimental design. Portion sizes and left-overs from cooking and eating data are based in the experimental design. Food waste data from the retail sector is based in the Norwegian statistics from the ForMat project, whereas packaging data was measured from the used products. The consumer study was done through a standard web panel with 1000 respondents, with respondents representative for the Norwegian population. Reallocation of impacts from wasting of food to the place waste is generated has been applied combined with conventional Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methods. We found that ready to eat meals had higher energy consumption and GHG-emissions than meals prepared from fresh ingredients, which again had slightly higher energy consumption and GHG-emissions than semi-prepared ingredients. Production of ingredients (especially meat) was the most important element for all products. Main contributions to the differences between the dinner types were the use stage, packaging production and transport based in conventional LCA allocation. The effect of food wasting was best shown with the reallocation method, where the impact of total food waste was on the same level as impacts from the use stage. Preventing food waste from retail and use stages would contribute to 13% reduction in GHG-emissions. Ready made food generated more food waste in the retail sector, whereas food waste by consumers was lower than for the two other types of meals. Lower degree of filling contributed to more transport work and higher emissions and energy consumption from transport. More packaging, especially plastic packaging did also contribute to higher GHG-emissions from incineration compared to the other solutions. Consumers regarded packaging solutions from ready to eat meals to be too big and with materials that are difficult to recycle. Changing from only using traditional dinner meal based on fresh ingredients to only ready to eat dinner by a Norwegian household equals GHG-emissions from a standard car driving 900 km or 8% of the average total driving distance per year in Norway.
Olsen, Nina Veflen & Christensen, Kasper (2015)
Social media, new digital technologies and their potential application in sensory and consumer research
New digital technology has made the exchange of user generated content on internet possible and turned the web into a very popular social medium. Facebook alone has over one billion active users and many people spend today more than one third of their waking day consuming social media content [1]. People share life stories and personal opinions in blogs, write short comments on Twitter, chat with their friends on Facebook, post pictures in Instagram and Flickr, watch other peoples’ videos on You Tube and send small snaps of what they are doing on Snapchat. They share information and express their emotions. They tell life stories and give advice. They brag and they complain. People are no longer only passive consumers of professional internet content; they participate actively in creating and sharing their own content. This interactivity creates a lot of opportunities and challenges, so also for sensory and consumer science. Social media makes global, one-to-one communication easier and cheaper than ever, makes the voice of the consumer much stronger, and allows a dissatisfied costumer not only to complain to her friends but to post negative comments to millions of people [2]. The aim of this paper is to review recent literature and present the opportunities and challenges social media offers for sensory and consumer science. After defining the term social media and giving a short overview of the different types, the focus will be on two specific aspects: crowdsourcing and communication of health and food safety
The objective of this article is to present a new statistical approach for the study of consumer liking. Total liking data are extended by incorporating liking for specific sensory properties. The approach combines different analyses for the purpose of investigating the most important aspects of liking and indicating which products are similarly or differently perceived by which consumers. A method based on the differences between total liking and the specific liking variables is proposed for studying both relative differences among products and individual consumer differences. Segmentation is also tested out in order to distinguish consumers with the strongest differences in their liking values. The approach is illustrated by a case study, based on cheese data. In the consumer test consumers were asked to evaluate their total liking, the liking for texture and the liking for odour/taste.
Olsen, Nina Veflen (2012)
Interactive toolbox for product development
Fleischwirtschaft international, 27(1), s. 63- 64.
The aim of this article is to point out the drivers of success for networks. In spite the fact that networks have received considerable attention, and is perceived as one of the few policy driven activities with some degree of success for enhancing innovation in small and medium sized enterprises, a literature review reveals that there is scarce knowledge about the important success factors of such networks. The data material in this article is unique and comprehensive, and constitutes a rich basis for a comparative case study of 101 SME networks. Our findings show that the success of a network depends on controllable factors like network design, the content and structure of the organized meetings, and the network management. Additionally, uncontrollable factors such as team spirit, involvement, internal anchoring, and willingness to share knowledge also play a role.
Resano, Helena; Perez-Cueto, Federico J.A., de Barcellos, Marcia D., Olsen, Nina Veflen, Grunert, Klaus Gunter & Verbeke, Wim (2011)
Consumer satisfaction with pork meat and derived products in five European countries
Hva skal til for å lykkes med innovasjon i nettverk? I denne artikkelen blir data fra 101 nettverk etablert i Norge fra 1995 til 2009, strukturert og analysert.
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a theoretical model of narrow and broad market scanning in a service industry, including short- and long-term outcomes. Design/methodology/approach - In a cross-sectional survey, structural equation modeling is used to test the hypotheses on a sample of 126 hotel managers in Norway. Findings - Given that services often involve direct interaction between the customer and the provider, customers play a more active role in the service development process. This has ramifications for how service firms scan their environment and, in turn, for incremental and discontinuous innovation. It is found that narrow and broad scanning each affect the new service development process in a unique way. Narrow scanning has a strong positive effect on profitability through incremental service adaptation; broad scanning has a weak but significant effect on profitability through incremental service adaptation, and broad scanning positively influences spin-off knowledge. Research limitations/implications - The two greatest limitations of the research, which translate into important avenues for future research, are to develop a better measure of discontinuous innovation, and to test the model in an alternative setting, because hotels are very dependent on locality and surroundings. Practical implications - When developing services, services managers must distinguish between short- and long-term performance, and how they scan their markets. Adapting to customers to the exclusion of exploring new opportunities threatens long-term viability.
Olsen, Nina Veflen & Sandvik, Kåre (2002)
Årsaker til produktutviklingssuksess
Beta, 16(1), s. 1- 14.
Artikkelen søker å gi svar på hvorfor noen bedrifter lykkes med sine produktutviklingsprosesser mens andre mislykkes. Suksess blir operasjonalisert som de nye produktenes fortrinn og bidrag til bedriftens lønnsomhet, men også økt innsikt i produktutviklingsprosesser og tilførsel av spin-off kunnskap. Produktutviklingsprosessen blir studert som organisasjonslæring og operasjonalisert som omfanget og bredden på informasjonssøket i produktutviklingsprosessen. Modellen blir testet med data fra 124 hotell i Norge. Både målemodellen og strukturmodellen ble testet med 'Structural Equation Modelling' (LISREL), og 5 av 6 hypoteser fikk støtte. Omfanget på produktutviklingsprosessen har en positiv signifikant effekt på a) produktfortrinn, b) innsikt i produktutviklingsprosessen og c) spin-off kunnskap, og produktfortrinn har en positiv signifikant effekt på lønnsomhet. Bredden på informasjonssøket viste seg å være signifikant positivt for produktfortrinn, men hadde ingen signifikant effekt på spin-off kunnskap.
Veflen, Nina (2022)
Matmytene som gjør oss syke
bi.no [Internett]
Langsrud, Solveig & Veflen, Nina (2022)
Playing an online cooking game can help avoid food poisoning
partner.sciencenorway.com [Internett]
Langsrud, Solveig & Veflen, Nina (2022)
Online cooking game shows promise for reducing food poisoning in homes
Økologisk mat i storhusholdninger - utfordringer og muligheter
[Report]. Nofima AS.
Formålet med rapporten er å kartlegge storhusholdningers syn på utfordringer og muligheter knyttet til bruk av økologiske produkter. Rapporten bygger på en seminarrekke i 2012 samt to undersøkelser utført av Nofima; en nettbasert survey i 2013 og påfølgende dybdeintervjuer utført i 2014. Undersøkelsene er finansiert av Landbruksdirektoratet. Stortingets mål er 15 % økologisk forbruk av mat i 2020. Skal målet nås må storhusholdning, private og offentlige, opp på minst dette nivået. Kartlegging av hva storhusholdningene selv opplever som utfordringer vil være et viktig bidrag for å nå målet Stortinget har satt for økologisk forbruk. Surveyen fra 2013 viste at de største utfordringene for økt bruk av økologiske produkter ligger i produktutvalgets tilgjengelighet og pris. Størst utfordring har økologisk kjøtt. Respondentene ga også uttrykk for logistikksystemene kanskje ikke fungerer godt nok for økologiske varer. Dybdeintervjuene utført i 2014 skulle avdekke hvilke økologiske produkter storhusholdning gjerne skulle hatt, men som ikke finnes lett tilgjengelig. Resultatet viste at det for store kjøkken ikke bare dreier seg om type vare, f.eks. gulrøtter eller melk, men like mye om tilgjengelig volum, pakningsstørrelser og bearbeidingsgrad. Noen økologiske produkter oppfattes også å ha en urimelig merpris sammenlignet med konvensjonelle produkter. Mindre, private virksomheter kan få dekket sitt behov ved å bruke små og gjerne lokale leverandører. Offentlige virksomheter er avhengig av at kravet om økologiske produkter utformes riktig i anbudsprosessen.
Olsen, Nina Veflen (2014)
Design Thinking and Food innovation
[Academic lecture]. 8th International European Forum (IGLS-Forum) on System Dynamics and Innovation in Food Networks.
Olsen, Nina Veflen (2014)
From sensing to sense making. The evolution of consumer food research
[Academic lecture]. Nordic Conference on Consumer Research.
Olsen, Nina Veflen (2014)
How to think like a designer? New opportunities for the baking sector
[Popular scientific article]. Baking Europe Magazine
