An investigation of several psychological factors impinging on the perception of fresh fruits and vegetables

Abstract

The subject of this thesis is fresh fruit and vegetable perception in Australia. A review of the literature in this field reveals very little systematic study, with most investigations having been conducted by various public and private industry groups. Given the embryonic stage of research into fresh fruit and vegetable perceptions and choice, a particular program of research is warranted, with an emphasis on inductive processes progressing to deductive methods. That is, initial research attempts should be concentrated upon the collection of fundamental, descriptive data relating to consumer knowledge structures of fresh fruits and vegetables. This type of research is facilitated by relatively unstructured research methods. The data thus yielded can be subjected to deductive methods, which require a more experimental, structured research method, involving testing hypotheses that suggest themselves from the inductively-derived data. A review of existing (largely industry-based) studies reveals methodological difficulties that centre around a tendency of researchers in this field to conduct deductively-derived studies in the absence of existing fundamental data that should properly inform these studies. ... The thesis is concluded with a discussion of the implications of the findings of the present thesis for the study of cognitive processing models, self-monitoring, and the nature of subsequent studies relating to fresh fruit and vegetable perception and choice.