Modifying the visual-texture complexity of foods to direct consumers' attention toward more sustainable options: Turkish rice pudding 'sütlaç' as a case

Consumer preferences have been examined using sensory analysis methods in various studies from past to present. In these reviews, the importance of visual elements (Raghubir, 2011; Diamond, 2013) and textures (Civille, 2011) was emphasized. These studies have been widely used in the field of neuromarketing, and different studies have also been developed in this field. Researchers have investigated the conscious or unconscious choices, orientations and influencing factors of consumers. This study focused on whether it would be possible to direct consumers attention to more sustainable options using the visual textural attributes of the products. This approach aims to address the problems such as carbon emissions and water pollution arising from food production, which have become important problems worldwide. In this research, a traditional dessert, sütlaç, was chosen as the model food product, reference sample. The amount of sütlaç was halved and more sustainable plant-based products with four diverse textural properties were added on top gradually to produce the study samples. Visual stimuli were prepared and uploaded to the computer for the visual sensory analysis. Pairwise comparisons of the products were carried out in an isolated environment with a hundred participants, randomly chosen among the student body of Yeditepe University. Descriptive analyzes, t-test and ANOVA were conducted to analyze the results. Participants preference for the products were increased with the textural complexity up to certain complexity. Clearly, participants exhibited a preference for the modified dairy dessert with reduced milk content over the original recipe, leading to decrease in carbon emissions associated with beef-derived milk, as the textural complexity of the product varies. Furthermore, the energy value of the products decreased with textural complexity up to certain points. In addition, the effect of inclusion of product description in the menu format on consumers' preferences was examined. It was found that this element also affected the consumers' preferences. Based on this study, the industry can direct consumers consciously or unconsciously to more sustainable options for a more sustainable future. Key words: food sensory, sustainability, textural complexity, visual texture