Predicting consumers’ attitude towards and willingness to buy beer brewed with agroindustrial by-products

Abstract

Understanding the preferences, perceptions and motivations behind the consumers' decision-making is a fundamental aspect of predicting the potential commercialization of novel products. The use of agroindustrial by-products as brewing ingredients could match the consumer's expectations of specialty and value-added beers. This study aimed at predicting the impact of beer choice motives, sociodemographic variables, consumption behaviour and food neophobia (FN) on consumers' attitude (ATT) towards and willingness to buy (WTB) beer brewed with agroindustrial by-products. An online survey was administered in Italy, and the data from 496 participants were collected. Results of the data analysis suggested a significant positive impact of health and ethical concerns factors on consumers' attitude, supporting the initial hypotheses of the theoretical framework. Additionally, participants were categorized based on FN levels, revealing that individuals with high FN levels showed significantly lower ATT and WTB than those who showed low FN levels, perceiving beer as less healthy, tasty, satisfying and interesting. In addition, age and frequency of craft beer consumption showed a significant influence on WTB. Therefore, targeted communication strategies to disseminate transparent information regarding production methods, safety, health, and environmental advantages of beer made using by-products can boost the market acceptance of these eco-friendly beers, thus paving the way for a more sustainable brewing industry.