British Food Journal

Consumers' attitudes towards high pressure freezing of food

Piritta Lampila Liisa Lhteenmki
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Piritta Lampila Liisa Lhteenmki, (2007),"Consumers' attitudes towards high pressure freezing of food",
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British Food Journal, Vol. 109 Iss 10 pp. 838 - 851

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BFJ
109,10 Consumers attitudes towards
high pressure freezing of food
Piritta Lampila and Liisa Lahteenmaki
838 Consumer Science, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo, Finland

Abstract
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Purpose When new processing technologies are introduced to the food domain, consumer
acceptance is one of the key issues for their future success. The purpose of this paper is to study
whether consumers are ready to accept a new high pressure freezing method for food processing when
different benefits are attached to the processing method.
Design/methodology/approach Consumer attitudes towards high pressure freezing were
surveyed in The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Finland (n 936).
Findings Generally, attitudes towards high pressure freezing were neutral, even though the term
was unfamiliar for most consumers. When given some information about high pressure freezing
technology, consumers considered applying this method as appropriate, especially if it had
advantageous consequences to the product. Processing method itself was considered less important
than price or environmental impact when the relative importance of choice criteria was studied with
conjoint analysis.
Practical implications Not having to raise the price and possible environmental benefits seem to
be the most crucial factors for promoting the acceptance of high pressure freezing as a new processing
method in food processing.
Originality/value The paper shows that advantages of high pressure freezing technology, like
decreasing the probability of microbial spoilage or improving the quality of products, had the clearest
influence on consumers appropriateness ratings.
Keywords Frozen foods, Food technology, Consumer behaviour, Europe, Cross-cultural studies
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
When a new processing method is applied, consumer acceptance is an important issue
for the success of a new product in the market. Technological development enables
food processing by various new technologies which improve the quality of products in
different ways. Typically, consumers are not focused on processing methods
themselves but rather on the benefits and risks associated with them (Frewer et al.,
1997). Benefits of a new method can be related to improved acceptability and
convenience of a new product. High sensory as well as nutritional quality can be
achieved by new processing technologies and thus they provide clear benefits for the
consumers (Deliza et al., 2003). These benefits may even make some unwanted
conditions, like higher price, tolerable. However, concerns relating to the processing are

British Food Journal
Vol. 109 No. 10, 2007
pp. 838-851
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0007-070X
DOI 10.1108/00070700710821368
Parts of this work were financially supported by European Project SAFE ICE Low
temperature-pressure processing of foods: Safety and quality aspects, process parameters and
consumer acceptance (QLK1-2002-02230) from the Quality of Life and Management Resources
Program. It does not necessarily reflect its views and in no way anticipates the Commissions
future policy in this area.
 also relevant in consumers purchase decisions (Cardello, 2003). Perceived risks may High pressure
become barriers against the use of a new product. freezing of foods
Novelty as such may cause suspicion under particular circumstances and
consumers are often concerned about new processing technologies. Especially for
women the perceived unsafety of new foods influences the attitudes towards the
product (Backstrom et al., 2003). Consumers evaluations of new technologies are often
ambiguous (Gregory et al., 1996). From the consumers viewpoint, new processing 839
technologies may cause risks which are unobservable, unknown and out of their own
control (Cardello, 2003). Consumers by nature try to avoid risks, but some degree of
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risk may be tolerated if also benefits are gained. This is why benefits for consumers
carry weight in the acceptance of new processing technologies (Deliza et al., 2003). For
example, the acceptance of biotechnology has been found to depend on consumers
seeing some personal or societal benefit in it (Braun, 2002). To make new technologies
more appropriate to consumers, technological innovations should be directed towards
those outcomes which consumers want, for example reduced environmental impacts or
reduced price in food products (Da Costa et al., 2000).
Consumer acceptance of new processing methods can be expected to be related to
attitudes towards the benefits, possible benefits, or risks that are associated with the
new processing method. If processing increases the healthiness of the final product, the
acceptance can be expected to be related to consumers attitudes towards the
healthiness of the diet. These attitudes can be measured by the general health interest
(GHI)-scale which includes eight statements related to nutritional healthiness in the
diet (Roininen et al., 1999). Processing affects the perceived naturalness of product, and
therefore consumers attitudes towards naturalness can influence the acceptability of
processing methods. The importance of eating organic and less processed foods can be
measured by a six item natural product interest (NPI)-scale (Roininen et al., 1999). We
assumed that high natural product interest is related to low acceptance of new
processing methods. Moreover, innovativeness can promote the acceptance of new
products. The domain-specific innovativeness (DSI)-scale, here applied in the food
domain, measures respondents tendency to adopt innovations (Goldsmith and Flynn,
1992; Goldsmith and Hofacker, 1999; Huotilainen et al., 2005). It is expected that people
who are highly innovative would also be more willing to accept new processing
methods. Additionally, a positive attitude towards technological development in
general is expected to be positively related to the acceptance of new processing
methods also in the food domain.

High pressure processing

This study concentrates on consumer attitudes towards high pressure freezing
technology and acceptance of vegetables processed by this method. High hydrostatic
pressure is an efficient food processing technology extending the shelf life of products
because the treatment destroys micro-organisms (spoilage and pathogens) and some
enzymes that can decrease food safety and stability (see, e.g. Hugas et al., 2002; San
Martin et al., 2002; Torres and Velazquez, 2005). High pressure processed food
products, like fruit jams and juices, guacamole, sauces, oysters and package cured
ham, have been available mainly in Japan and America since the beginning of 1990s,
but in Europe the method is much less known (Butz et al., 2003). Additionally, high
 BFJ pressure can be applied in the processing of fruits and vegetables but these products
109,10 are not on the market yet (Guerrero-Beltran et al., 2005).
Only few studies about consumers attitudes towards high pressure processing
have been performed. In the study of Butz et al. (2003) 3000 adults were interviewed in
France, Germany and the UK. The majority (67 per cent) of participants accepted high
pressure processing. Generally, consumers are not familiar with this processing
840 technology and therefore the information provided in the research situation plays a
major role in consumer responses. According to a Brazilian interview study (n 41)
giving information to consumers about the high pressure technology had a positive
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impact on the perception of the product (Deliza et al., 2003).

As well as for other new technologies, advantages to consumers have a major effect
on the acceptance of high pressure processed food products. According to a European
study (Butz et al., 2003) consumers are ready to buy high pressure processed products
that have advantages, but do not have disadvantages. The same study found some
differences in preferences between countries. For British and German consumers the
most important reasons for considering the buying of a product were that the product
was not more expensive than the conventional counterpart and that it had health
benefits. Consumers in the French sample admired quality and increased shelf-life and
they were also ready to pay a bit more for high pressure processed products. Brazilian
consumers were more willing to purchase high pressure processed products when the
advantages of the technology were presented in the labels (Deliza et al., 2003 and 2005).
As high pressure processed food products are not available for most consumers,
measures of purchase or intention to purchase can not be performed. This study
focused on consumers perceived familiarity and attitudes towards foods processed by
high pressure freezing. The aims of this study were:
.
to compare familiarity and attitudes towards pressure freezing as a term with
other food processing technologies;
.
to find out what kind of benefits consumers would regard as appropriate for
justifying the uptake of high pressure freezing technology; and
.
to study the role of applying high pressure freezing in relation to other product
characteristics in the acceptability of vegetable products.

Materials and methods

Data collection
A total of 936 consumers from four countries; The Netherlands (151 respondents),
Belgium (182), Spain (301) and Finland (302) completed a questionnaire. The data from
the Netherlands and Belgium were combined to represent middle European consumers
as no significant differences between these countries were found. The questionnaire
was designed in English and then translated into Dutch, Spanish and Finnish.
Back-translations were made into English and the possible discrepancies were taken
into account in the final versions of translated questionnaires. The data from Belgium
were collected among Dutch speaking citizens. The recruitment procedures differed
between countries. In the Netherlands and in Belgium respondents were recruited from
an internet panel, in Spain at their homes and in Finland at their homes and at
shopping malls in different parts of the country. Small incentives were given to
participants in other countries but not in Spain.
 Respondents High pressure
The respondents socio-demographic background differed between countries (Table I). freezing of foods
The sample from Spain differed considerably from the other two samples. The share of
women was almost two-thirds of the respondents whereas in the other countries it was
one half. The age of respondents varied between 19 and 75 years with the mean age of
42.8 years (SD 13.0). There were more young respondents (35 years or less) in Spain
than in the other countries. The share of highly educated respondents was high in the 841
Netherlands and Belgium while the share of respondents with short formal education
was high in Spain. In addition, household sizes differed between the countries. The
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majority of Spanish respondents were living in households of three or more persons

while the most of the other respondents where living in small, one or two persons,
households.

Questionnaire
The questionnaire consisted of five parts. The first part included questions of
familiarity and attitudes towards eight processing technology terms which enables
comparing the term high pressure freezing to other processing methods. The second
part measured the perceived appropriateness of using high pressure freezing if the use
would result in different positive or negative consequences. In the third section a
conjoint approach was exploited in determining the roles of different product
characteristics on the acceptance of vegetables to expose the relative role of processing
technology when compared to other possible benefits or negative consequences. In the
final two parts respondents socio-demographic and attitudinal background was asked.

Measurements
Familiarity and attitudes towards the term high pressure freezing and seven other
processing technologies were studied. The six other processing technologies were
chosen to vary in novelty, use frequency, the number of products on the market and
whether the technology could be applied at home. The used terms were high pressure

The
Netherlands Spain Finland
and Belgium (n 301) (n 302)
(n 333) (%) (%) (%)

Gender Female 49 65 49
Male 51 35 51
Age 19-35 years 26 30 40
36-50 years 36 35 31
51-75 years 38 35 29
Years of formal education Less than 11 5 41 18
11-15 38 30 55
16 or more 57 29 27
Household size 1-2 persons 57 32 62 Table I.
3 persons or more 44 68 38 The share of respondents
Responsibility for purchasing About half or less of all 35 40 46 according to
food purchases demographic statistics in
Most of all 65 60 54 each country
 BFJ thawing, microwave thawing, microwave heating, freezing, chilling, pressure cooking
109,10 and UHT (ultra high temperature) processing. The familiarity of processing
technology terms was asked on a three-point category scale: I do not recognise the
concept, I recognise the concept but I do not know what it means and I recognise
the concept and I know what it means. Attitudes towards processing technologies
were measured with eight semantic differentials. A five-point scale was used to ask
842 respondents ratings for these attribute pairs. By mistake, in Belgium a seven-point
scale was used. The results of Belgian data were standardised to the five-point scale.
The attributes contained two affective (unpleasant pleasant and undesirable
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desirable), two rational (unnecessary necessary and beneficial harmful), two moral
(right wrong and ethical unethical), and two safety-related (safe risky and
unnatural natural) attribute pairs. Four negative scales were reversed so that a
higher score means a more positive attitude. In order to find out whether attributes
measuring attitudes towards processing methods formed one dimension, factor
analysis (Maximum Likelihood) with Varimax rotation on eight semantic differentials
was performed. All eight attributes loaded on one factor which accounted for 62 per
cent of the total variance. Based on this analysis, an attitude measure was calculated as
a mean of eight variables for each processing method. Reliabilities (Cronbachs alpha)
for the composite attitude variables towards different processing methods were high,
all eight were above 0.85.
To detect what kind of benefits or possible risks would be regarded as appropriate
to endorse the adoption of high pressure freezing technology, a short description of the
technology was shown to consumers. The appropriateness of high pressure freezing
was rated on a five-point scale (1 inappropriate; 5 appropriate) for nine different
consequences. These nine consequences loaded into two factors (Maximum Likelihood
with Varimax rotation) separating perceived advantages from disadvantages.
Accordingly, two variables were formed: the first, named advantages, calculated the
mean of the six items loaded on the first factor. The second was named as
disadvantages and contained the means of three negative consequences. The items
describing direct or indirect advantages that high pressure freezing could provide
consumers were: Improves sensory quality of the product better taste, Increases
vitamin content in the product, Reduces the use of energy in processing, Reduces
the use of water in processing, Improves the quality of convenience foods and
Decreases the probability of microbial spoilage. The three possible disadvantages
were: Requires high investment from the producer, Increases price and Requires
more safety measures for labourers in the food plants. Reliabilities for the mean
advantage variable were high in all countries (Cronbach alphas above 0.87) and for
the disadvantage variables moderate (Cronbach alphas above 0.69) with the
exception of Spanish data (alpha 0.53).
In order to study the role of high pressure freezing technology in the acceptability of
vegetables, conjoint analysis was used. Conjoint analysis is a statistical technique used
in marketing research to understand how important different product attributes are to
consumer. In this study conjoint analysis was used to estimate the relative influences
of processing methods, price, sensory quality and environmental quality on the
acceptability of vegetables. For each attribute two or three different descriptions were
given. Conjoint analysis estimates utility values that reflect the relative importance of
each level of attribute in preferences. A positive utility value indicates a positive
 contribution to willingness to use the described product and a negative value High pressure
correspondently reflects a negative contribution. The four used product attributes were freezing of foods
processing methods (two levels: conventional freezing or high pressure freezing)
sensory quality (two levels: standard or extra freshness), price (three levels: 25 per cent
lower than market price, market price or 25 per cent higher than market price), and
environmental quality (three levels: 25 per cent less than standard amount of water,
standard amount of water or 25 per cent more than standard amount of water). Overall 843
twelve descriptions of products were given and respondents were asked to rate their
willingness to buy these products on a seven-point scale (1 I would definitely not
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buy; 7 I would definitely buy).

The conjoint model fitted the data well. Pearsons correlation and Kendalls tau for
the total solution and for the solutions of each country were high. Forty-seven
respondents (the Netherlands 8, Belgium 5, Spain 27, and Finland 7) whose responses
were illogical were excluded from the analyses by the statistical programme. To
compare the relative importance of different attributes, average importance
percentages were calculated for each respondent. The range of utilities for each of
the four factors was calculated and they were summed. Importance percentages were
calculated by dividing the range for each of the factors by the sum of all ranges and
multiplied by 100.

Background characteristics
Four validated attitude scales were used to study respondents background
characteristics towards health and technology. These scales contain verbal
statements that were rated on a seven-point scale (1 strongly disagree, 7
strongly agree). The scales were General Health Interest (GHI), Natural Product
Interest (NPI) (Roininen et al., 1999), Domain Specific Innovativeness) DSI (Goldsmith
and Flynn, 1992; Goldsmith and Hofacker, 1999) and attitude towards technology
(TEC). Reliabilities for the background characteristic scales (GHI, NPI, DSI and TEC)
were generally high (Cronbachs alpha ranged from 0.72-0.86) with the exception of the
Spanish sample whose reliabilities for NPI and DSI were low (0.48 and 0.50
respectively. The importance of these attitudes was studied by correlating the
personality characteristics scores with responses to processing methods. SPSS 12.0.1
for Windows was used for data analysis.

Results
Familiarity
In general, high pressure freezing as well as high pressure thawing, were weakly
recognised in comparison to other already widely used processing technologies in all
countries. The majority, 71 per cent, of the respondents did not recognise the term high
pressure freezing. Almost everyone recognised microwave heating, microwave
thawing, conventional freezing and chilling (over 95 per cent of respondents).
Conventional pressure cooking was recognised more often in other countries than in
Finland (93-98 per cent vs 85 per cent), whereas Finnish respondents recognised UHT
(ultra high temperature) processing more often than respondents from other countries
(86 per cent vs 36-57 per cent). This means that attitudes towards high pressure
freezing were rated based on the image that the expression high pressure freezing
produced in respondents minds.
 BFJ Attitudes towards high pressure processing
109,10 Attitudes towards the term high pressure freezing, as well as high pressure thawing,
were neutral in each country (Figure 1). Correspondingly, attitudes towards UHT
processing, which was another relatively weakly recognised processing method, were
neutral. Of the six other processing technologies studied, the most positive responses
were given to conventional freezing and chilling. Except for high pressure freezing and
844 high pressure thawing, differences in the attitudes between countries could be found.
Mostly attitudes of Spanish respondents differed from the others. Predictably,
familiarity was associated with attitudes towards processing methods. Consumers
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who reported to recognise the concept and to know what it meant had the most positive
attitude towards that processing method. Differences between countries were
statistically significant for all other processing technologies except for high pressure
thawing and microwave thawing.
Personality characteristics were related to attitudes towards processing
technologies (Table II). As expected, respondents who were more positive towards
technology in general (high TEC-scores) or more innovative regarding new foods (high
DSI-scores) perceived high pressure freezing and the most of other processing
technologies more positively than others. Attitudes towards high pressure processing
(freezing and/or thawing) had a weak negative association with natural product
interest, but the technology that was most negatively related to natural product
interest was microwave heating and thawing, especially in Belgium and the
Netherlands, and in Finland.

Advantages and disadvantages of high pressure freezing

In general, consumers found high pressure freezing technology as appropriate when it
produced benefits (Figure 2). Of all presented consequences decreasing the probability
of microbial spoilage was regarded as the most appropriate reason to adopt high

Figure 1.
Attitude ratings towards
processing technologies
according to country.
Means with different letter
are significantly different
between countries
 High pressure
TEC DSI NPI GHI
freezing of foods
The Netherlands and Belgium
High pressure freezing 0.23 * * 0.25 * * 2 0.12 * 2 0.05
High pressure thawing 0.24 * * 0.21 * * 2 0.17 * * 2 0.09
Microwave heating 0.25 * * 0.13 * 2 0.21 * * 2 0.02
Microwave thawing 0.33 * * 0.14 * * 2 0.12 * 0.00 845
Pressure cooking 0.21 * * 0.18 * * 2 0.04 0.04
UHT 0.15 * * 0.17 * * 2 0.09 2 0.03
Freezing 0.19 * * 0.14 * * 2 0.06 0.05
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Chilling 0.16 * * 0.05 2 0.01 0.03

Spain
High pressure freezing 0.15 * * 0.12 * 2 0.13 * 2 0.06
High pressure thawing 0.06 0.04 2 0.04 2 0.07
Microwave heating 0.29 * * 0.17 * * 2 0.11 2 0.04
Microwave thawing 0.09 0.13 * 2 0.13 * 2 0.13 *
Pressure cooking 0.20 * * 0.10 0.06 0.14 *
UHT 0.17 * * 0.18 * * 0.00 0.04
Freezing 0.29 * * 0.16 * * 2 0.05 0.10
Chilling 0.19 * * 0.08 0.02 0.20 * *
Finland
High pressure freezing 0.21 * * 0.13 * 2 0.06 0.00
High pressure thawing 0.12 * 0.11 2 0.12 * -0.08
Microwave heating 0.12 * 0.14 * 2 0.24 * * -0.06
Microwave thawing 0.21 * * 0.22 * * 2 0.16 * * 0.11
Pressure cooking 0.10 0.19 * * 0.03 0.08
UHT 0.20 * * 0.23 * * 2 0.02 0.05 Table II.
Freezing 0.15 * * 0.12 * 0.05 0.17 * * Correlations between
Chilling 0.10 0.10 2 0.03 0.15 * * background attitudes and
attitudes towards
Notes: *Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed); * *correlation is significant at the 0.01 processing methods in
level (2-tailed) each country

pressure freezing, however, all advantages were rated almost as appropriate. The mean
of all advantages in the entire sample was 3.9 out of 5 (SD 0.87). Spanish respondents
were less willing to accept high pressure freezing even if it has advantages when
compared to respondents in other countries (F2; 930 37:0; p , 0:001).
Increasing the cost of a product made high pressure freezing less appropriate, but
still only few consumers thought of it as inappropriate. The mean appropriateness of
all disadvantages in the entire sample was 3.0 (SD 0.94). Spanish respondents were
most ready to accept high pressure freezing even if it causes disadvantages
(F2; 930 29:7; p , 0:001), thus showing less sensitivity to either advantages or
disadvantages.
Background characteristics were associated with consumers willingness to
consider high pressure freezing as appropriate with different consequences (Table III).
Consumers who had positive attitudes towards technological development (high
TEC-scores) or who were innovative (high DSI-scores) also regarded the use of high
pressure freezing as appropriate. In Spain this association only appeared when high
pressure freezing caused advantages.
 BFJ
109,10

846
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Figure 2.
Mean appropriate ratings
of high pressure freezing
for the nine consequences
for each country. The
means with different letter
are significantly different

TEC NPI DSI GHI

Table III. The Netherlands and Belgium Advantages 0.25 * * 2 0.05 0.16 * * 0.10
Correlations between Disadvantages 0.12 * 0.05 0.15 * * 0.06
background attitudes and Spain Advantages 0.31 * * 2 0.03 0.24 * * 0.04
appropriateness of high Disadvantages 0.03 0.03 0.04 0.07
pressure technology Finland Advantages 0.24 * * 2 0.04 0.16 * * 0.01
when consequences are Disadvantages 0.12 * 2 0.05 0.17 * * 2 0.09
either advantages or
disadvantages in each Notes: *Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed); * *correlation is significant at the 0.01
country level (2-tailed)

Acceptability of vegetables
When factors influencing consumers decisions to buy vegetable products were
studied, processing methods had relatively low importance (Table IV) with price
dominating as the most important factor. The average importance level of process
methods was higher in Spain than in the other countries. For the Spanish respondents
the processing method was more important than sensory quality whereas in the
Netherlands and Belgium importance levels were vice versa. For the Finnish
respondents the importance of process and sensory quality were equal. According to
average importance percentages, price was the most important attribute for the
willingness to buy the product. Price was even more important for Finnish respondents
than for respondents from other countries. Environmental quality followed price in
importance and its role had equal weight in every country.
When the different attribute levels were examined, consumers were less willing to
use products produced with high pressure freezing than with conventional freezing,
but the effect was rather small, except for Spain. The role of price was not linear:
respondents did not see the lower than market price as having much higher utility,
 High pressure
The Netherlands
and Belgium Spain Finland freezing of foods
Attributes and levels/relative importance (n 319) (n 273) (n 295)

Processing method
Conventional freezing 0.11 0.43 0.16
High pressure freezing 2 0.11 20.43 2 0.16 847
Relative importance (%) 13.3 24.5 15.2
Price
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25% lower price 0.81 0.24 0.79

Market price 0.23 0.64 0.38
25% higher price 2 1.04 20.88 2 1.17
Relative importance (%) 40.3 36.7 44.3
Environmental quality
25% less water 0.48 0.38 0.36
Standard amount of water 0.06 20.30 0.01
25% more water 2 0.54 20.08 2 0.37
Relative importance (%) 27.7 25.2 25.3
Sensory quality
Standard 2 0.34 20.31 2 0.22 Table IV.
Extra freshness 0.34 0.31 0.22 Utility scores and relative
Relative importance (%) 18.4 16.3 15.2 importance of vegetable
product characteristics
Pearsons R 0.99 0.97 1.00 from conjoint analysis
Kendalls tau 0.89 0.67 0.94 each country

but if the price increased above the market price the utility value went down steeply.
Consumers showed a greater sensitivity to avoiding high price than to favouring low
price. An interesting detail was found among Spanish respondents who preferred
market price more than price which was 25 per cent lower than market price. The
utilities of environmental quality demonstrated that consumers were more willing to
buy products that required less water in their processing. Contrary to the others, in
Spain a process that needs 25 per cent more than standard amount of water was
slightly more preferred than standard process. The utilities of sensory quality showed
that in every country extra freshness was preferred to standard sensory quality,
although the utility value of extra freshness was rather low.

Discussion
Attitudes towards high pressure freezing
Attitudes towards high pressure freezing as a term were neutral. High pressure
freezing technology was not familiar to consumers, but the neutral attitude rating
indicates that the term high pressure freezing does not evoke negative images in
consumers minds. This gives a good starting point if high pressure freezing is adopted
in food manufacturing as a routine process. The attitudes towards the term high
pressure thawing were similar. The attitude measure gave rational results with more
familiar processing technologies which implies that our measure is valid and
respondents attitudes towards pressure processing are truly neutral. In general,
 BFJ consumers attitudes towards various food processing methods were positive. All eight
109,10 studied processing methods were considered to be useful and none of them was seen as
being unethical or wrong. Most of the processing methods studied (freezing, chilling,
microwave processing and pressure cooking) can also be applied at home which is
likely to add their familiarity and consumers perception of having control over them.
The results suggest that familiarity is strongly associated with attitudes. The key
848 issue for the future acceptance of high pressure freezing technology seem to be how
consumers will gain information, how this information is processed and exposure to
direct experience of the technology. One method for increasing familiarity is to provide
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chances for exposure to novelties, as it is known to promote the positive attitude

towards new products, even in genetically modified products (Lahteenmaki et al.,
2002). The basic importance of information provided before rating the appropriateness
of adopting high pressure freezing with varying consequences could be seen in
responses, similar to several studies that have shown that information given about
manufacturing processes improves product acceptability (Caporale and Monteleone,
2004; Deliza et al., 2003). Consumers want to make informed choices, which make them
feel having control over risk. In making decisions relating to the use of new
technologies consumers want information on safety and ethics from reliable sources
(Millar et al., 2002; Moses, 1999).
According to studies of Frewer et al. (1996; 1997) the consumer acceptance of new
products is made on case-by-case basis depending not on attitudes towards technology
overall but on benefits of individual products. As expected according to these previous
findings, the advantages of high pressure freezing technology, like decreasing the
probability of microbial spoilage or improving the quality of products, had the clearest
influence on consumers appropriateness ratings. However, our results suggest that
consumers did not think that high pressure freezing technology is inappropriate even if
it causes disadvantages, like increases price or requires more safety measures for
labourers in the food plants. According to Frewer et al. (1997) consumer acceptance is
influenced by how the benefits of production technology are described. It could be
assumed that there are individual differences in preference of different benefits, but
according to our study differences were only minor.

Respondents background characteristics

Consumers are not a uniform group and responses varied not only between countries
but also within countries. According to our results background characteristics have an
influence on attitudes towards new processing technologies. Consumers who are
innovative regarding foods are more ready to accept products manufactured with new
processing methods, particularly if they have benefits to consumer, compared to those
who are at the lower end of innovativeness. Comparable results were found in a
Finnish study (Huotilainen et al., 2005) in which the most innovative respondents were
found to be the most familiar with and the most willing to try different types of new
foods. Similarly, technologically orientated consumers had positive attitudes towards
high pressure freezing as well as other processing methods studied. In Finland and in
the Netherlands and Belgium, these consumers also did not consider only benefits, but
they were ready to accept new methods even though some disadvantages are caused.
This is in line with the results of Cardello (2003) who found that consumers lower
concern level towards novel technologies associated with higher expected liking
 ratings of new products. The overall strong positive association between perceived High pressure
appropriateness of high pressure technology and innovativeness and technology freezing of foods
attitude when advantages are presented, can be a reflection of tendency that
technology-oriented, innovative consumers are also hedonistic and looking for
rewards, but are not always as sensitive to possible disadvantages.

Product benefits and processing method 849

Although technology has an impact on product choices, its importance was minor in
comparison to other more tangible product characteristics when the acceptability of
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vegetables was studied. Especially price and also environmental quality were
prioritised. Overall, the critical feature for the acceptability of new technologies is that
they do not increase the price of the product, especially if they do not deliver clear
benefits as a trade-off. In this study neither environmental benefits nor improved
sensory quality could produce the lost utility of higher price. However, price benefit did
not produce high utility values among consumers and in Spain the lower price was
regarded as less preferable than market price. Lower price may also convey a message
of lower quality attributes and raise suspicion towards how the product has been
manufactured.
High pressure freezing technology itself was not something which triggered
consumers to choose or not to choose the product. This may further reflect the fact that
attitudes towards the studied processing method, high pressure freezing, were neutral.
If consumers had negative attitudes towards a processing method, they would be likely
to want to avoid consuming these products.

Limitations of the study

Cross-cultural studies are difficult to carry out. Although careful back translations of
questionnaires were carried out to check the similarity of questions, many differences
between the Spanish and the other data could be found in the study. Some of these can
be contributed to cultural differences in respondents attitudes towards processing
technologies, but some may be caused by systematic error due to the differences in the
background variables (gender, education, size of household etc.). There also seems to
be a positive response bias in the Spanish sample and part of the differences may be
assumed to be caused by non-response bias. The Spanish respondents were recruited
in their homes (no information about the time of day when recruiting was done is
available) and no reward was given for participation. Due to to this, the sample may be
unrepresentative. Thus, drawing conclusions in cultural differences between the
samples need to be taken with caution. However, if one ignores the strength of
coefficients, the main results from Spain are in line with those found in the other two
samples.

Conclusion
Even though the term high pressure freezing was weakly recognised, attitudes towards
the processing method were neutral. As familiarity with a processing method increases
its acceptability, the future acceptability of high pressure freezing technology is likely
to depend on how consumers can reach information and gain exposure to pressure
processed foods. Consumers should gain responses to all those dichotomies they use in
processing the attitudes towards novelties among food products. Acceptance among
 BFJ innovative consumers can be gained by emphasising advantages but those looking for
109,10 natural products need to be convinced about the extent of possible disadvantages as
well. The processing method used, as such, is not a major issue to consumers when
choosing products.

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Corresponding author
Piritta Lampila can be contacted at: Piritta.Lampila@vtt.fi

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1. MahajanRajneesh Rajneesh Mahajan mahajanrajneesh.phd@gmail.com Rajneesh Mahajan received

DAADs Sandwich Programme Scholarship from June 2012 to September 2013. To conduct part
of his doctoral program research in the Gottingen University in Germany. He has done Full-Time
Doctoral Program in the Department of Management Studies, Delhi School of Management, Delhi
Technological University, formerly known as Delhi College of Engineering, New Delhi, India. He is
associated as an Associate Professor with Apeejay School of Management, New Delhi in India. His
research interests are in the area of cold chain management, global supply chain management, global
food safety, international trade operations, international business and international marketing. GargSuresh
Suresh Garg skgarg63@yahoo.co.in Suresh Garg is a Pro Vice Chancellor, Former Dean Academic and
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the Head of the Delhi School of Management, Delhi Technological University, formerly known as
Delhi College of Engineering, New Delhi, India. He has published more than 130 research papers in
international, national journals, conferences. His areas of interests include supply chain management,
Six Sigma, total quality management and flexibility. SharmaP.B. P.B. Sharma pbsharma48@yahoo.co.in
P.B. Sharma is presently a Vice-Chancellor of Amity University, Gurgaon, Haryana, the Founder,
Vice-Chancellor of Delhi Technological University, formerly known as Delhi College of Engineering,
at New Delhi, India. He is an Academician, Researcher and Administrator. His areas of interests
include knowledge and technology management, innovations management, technical education, etc.
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