WEBVTT
1
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Welcome to the Consumer Perspective for Agri-Food Industry High Tech.
2
00:00:07.290 --> 00:00:10.929
My name is Michelle Nagella, a PhD behavioral neuroscientist and
3
00:00:11.029 --> 00:00:15.349
founder of Nerdoscientist. And today we're asking, do consumers need
4
00:00:15.390 --> 00:00:33.979
to know how it works? Functional ingredients can be complicated. Probiotics, prebiotics, peptides, adaptogens, omega-3s, polyphenols,
5
00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:38.850
even something relatively familiar like protein can involve some pretty
6
00:00:38.969 --> 00:00:43.189
complex biology once we start talking about how it actually
7
00:00:43.229 --> 00:00:47.450
works in the body. For scientists developing these products, understanding
8
00:00:47.469 --> 00:00:52.390
those mechanisms matters. But here's a different question. How much
9
00:00:52.429 --> 00:00:56.530
of that science does the consumer actually need to understand?
10
00:00:57.229 --> 00:01:00.479
Probably not all of it, right? Most of us use
11
00:01:00.520 --> 00:01:04.640
products every day without fully understanding how they work. I
12
00:01:04.680 --> 00:01:07.609
don't need to understand the chemistry of toothpaste in order
13
00:01:07.650 --> 00:01:10.250
to brush my teeth. And I certainly don't need to
14
00:01:10.329 --> 00:01:14.989
understand every pathway involved in caffeine metabolism to know why
15
00:01:15.069 --> 00:01:18.439
I'm reaching for coffee every morning. But that doesn't mean
16
00:01:18.530 --> 00:01:23.719
understanding doesn't matter. From a behavioral science perspective, what may
17
00:01:23.799 --> 00:01:28.329
matter is whether consumers have a useful mental model. or
18
00:01:28.349 --> 00:01:32.659
a simple explanation that connects what is in the product
19
00:01:33.079 --> 00:01:36.620
with what it does, and ultimately, why that should matter
20
00:01:36.659 --> 00:01:40.540
to them. Let's think about gut health. A scientist might
21
00:01:40.579 --> 00:01:47.200
talk about the gut microbiome, microbial diversity, metabolites, or particular
22
00:01:47.560 --> 00:01:52.430
bacterial strains. Those concepts may be scientifically important, but the
23
00:01:52.469 --> 00:01:55.829
consumer may be trying to understand a much simpler question.
24
00:01:56.290 --> 00:01:59.390
What does this mean for me? Maybe the answer is
25
00:01:59.469 --> 00:02:05.549
digestive comfort. Maybe it's regularity. Maybe it's supporting long-term health goals.
26
00:02:06.170 --> 00:02:09.979
The challenge is connecting those two levels without losing the
27
00:02:10.039 --> 00:02:13.280
science along the way. That's the tricky part. And I
28
00:02:13.340 --> 00:02:18.060
think this is where functional ingredients create an interesting communication problem.
29
00:02:18.759 --> 00:02:23.409
If we give consumers too much scientific information, we risk
30
00:02:23.550 --> 00:02:31.080
creating cognitive overload. Ingredient names, mechanisms, dosages, pathways, and unfamiliar
31
00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:36.629
terminology can make something that is scientifically impressive surprisingly difficult
32
00:02:36.669 --> 00:02:39.650
to understand. But go too far in the other direction,
33
00:02:39.669 --> 00:02:44.469
and we create a different problem, such as supports wellness,
34
00:02:44.830 --> 00:02:50.039
or promotes balance, or helps you feel your best. Those
35
00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:53.639
statements may be easy to process, but what do they
36
00:02:53.719 --> 00:02:57.150
actually mean if they mean anything at all? Consumers may
37
00:02:57.189 --> 00:02:59.830
be left with a vague sense that a product is
38
00:02:59.889 --> 00:03:02.689
supposed to be good for them without really understanding why.
39
00:03:02.719 --> 00:03:05.539
I think we're seeing that a lot with protein these days,
40
00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:10.479
where all the products are now saying high protein or
41
00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:15.259
added protein. But how much protein does the consumer actually need?
42
00:03:15.939 --> 00:03:19.000
So perhaps the goal isn't simply to make the science simpler.
43
00:03:19.639 --> 00:03:23.479
It's to give consumers enough of the science to create meaning.
44
00:03:23.979 --> 00:03:27.750
There is an important distinction there. Imagine a functional ingredient
45
00:03:27.789 --> 00:03:34.430
designed to support healthy aging. The scientific mechanism might involve inflammation, metabolism,
46
00:03:35.009 --> 00:03:39.659
cellular processes, or muscle maintenance, but healthy aging itself is
47
00:03:39.699 --> 00:03:44.219
still fairly abstract. What does healthy aging mean to the
48
00:03:44.300 --> 00:03:48.219
person buying the product? Maybe it means having enough strength
49
00:03:48.310 --> 00:03:52.729
to continue hiking, keeping up with their grandchildren, or staying independent,
50
00:03:53.289 --> 00:03:57.439
feeling mentally sharp at work. Suddenly, we're no longer talking
51
00:03:57.490 --> 00:04:02.650
about a biological mechanism. We're connecting to that mechanism to
52
00:04:02.710 --> 00:04:06.330
a human goal. And that connection may be what makes
53
00:04:06.370 --> 00:04:09.740
the function meaningful at all. There is another interesting piece
54
00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:13.860
to this though, our expectations. The information we give consumers
55
00:04:13.939 --> 00:04:17.339
before they experience a product can influence what they expect
56
00:04:17.399 --> 00:04:21.589
from it. An ingredient name, a claim, an explanation of
57
00:04:21.649 --> 00:04:24.920
how it works, Even the format of the product can
58
00:04:24.959 --> 00:04:29.100
help create a prediction about what the consumer should be experiencing.
59
00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:33.360
Sometimes that experience is easy to recognize. Caffeine is a
60
00:04:33.379 --> 00:04:36.750
good example of this. I drink something, I feel more alert,
61
00:04:37.250 --> 00:04:40.750
and can make a relatively intuitive connection between the product
62
00:04:40.889 --> 00:04:44.189
and the outcome. Other functional benefits are a lot harder
63
00:04:44.230 --> 00:04:48.329
to observe. How do I know my microbiome has improved?
64
00:04:49.009 --> 00:04:52.439
How do I know a food is supporting my cardiovascular health?
65
00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:56.600
How do I know something I'm eating today is contributing
66
00:04:56.660 --> 00:04:59.899
to healthy aging years from now? When the benefit isn't
67
00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:04.269
immediately perceptible, the consumer may have to rely more heavily
68
00:05:04.709 --> 00:05:07.689
on the mental model we've given them. They need some
69
00:05:07.730 --> 00:05:11.970
way to understand why continuing the behavior is worthwhile. And
70
00:05:12.009 --> 00:05:16.750
that's why communication around functional gradients isn't simply a marketing problem.
71
00:05:17.269 --> 00:05:19.360
I think it's also an R & D and consumer
72
00:05:19.389 --> 00:05:23.379
research problem too. When we're developing a functional food or beverage,
73
00:05:23.939 --> 00:05:27.639
we can test more than whether consumers like the taste
74
00:05:27.660 --> 00:05:31.519
or find the claim appealing. We can also ask, what
75
00:05:31.579 --> 00:05:35.269
do the consumers think this ingredient does? How do they
76
00:05:35.290 --> 00:05:39.069
think it works? What outcome do they expect to experience?
77
00:05:39.709 --> 00:05:43.829
And maybe most importantly, what would convince them that it's
78
00:05:43.910 --> 00:05:50.430
actually working? Those answers can reveal misunderstandings, unrealistic expectations, or
79
00:05:50.509 --> 00:05:54.129
places where the science simply isn't connecting with something the
80
00:05:54.170 --> 00:05:58.269
consumers actually value. Because consumers probably don't need a biology
81
00:05:58.310 --> 00:06:01.389
lesson every time they pick up a product. But they
82
00:06:01.449 --> 00:06:04.620
do need a story that makes sense. Not a story
83
00:06:04.699 --> 00:06:07.720
that replaces the science, but a story that connects the
84
00:06:07.779 --> 00:06:12.680
science to their lives. For functional food innovation, that may
85
00:06:12.740 --> 00:06:16.600
be the real communication challenge, not asking how much science
86
00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:20.209
we can fit on the package, but how much understanding
87
00:06:20.250 --> 00:06:24.500
the consumer actually needs to make the function meaningful. So
88
00:06:24.579 --> 00:06:28.019
thanks for listening to our consumer perspective for agro food
89
00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:31.730
science industry high tech. I'm Michelle Nagella again, and I
90
00:06:31.790 --> 00:06:34.610
hope you'll join me next time as we continue exploring
91
00:06:35.110 --> 00:06:37.709
what behavioral science can teach us about the foods we
92
00:06:37.730 --> 00:06:40.399
develop and the people we develop them for.
1
00:00:03.149 --> 00:00:06.830
Welcome to the Consumer Perspective for Agri-Food Industry High Tech.
2
00:00:07.290 --> 00:00:10.929
My name is Michelle Nagella, a PhD behavioral neuroscientist and
3
00:00:11.029 --> 00:00:15.349
founder of Nerdoscientist. And today we're asking, do consumers need
4
00:00:15.390 --> 00:00:33.979
to know how it works? Functional ingredients can be complicated. Probiotics, prebiotics, peptides, adaptogens, omega-3s, polyphenols,
5
00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:38.850
even something relatively familiar like protein can involve some pretty
6
00:00:38.969 --> 00:00:43.189
complex biology once we start talking about how it actually
7
00:00:43.229 --> 00:00:47.450
works in the body. For scientists developing these products, understanding
8
00:00:47.469 --> 00:00:52.390
those mechanisms matters. But here's a different question. How much
9
00:00:52.429 --> 00:00:56.530
of that science does the consumer actually need to understand?
10
00:00:57.229 --> 00:01:00.479
Probably not all of it, right? Most of us use
11
00:01:00.520 --> 00:01:04.640
products every day without fully understanding how they work. I
12
00:01:04.680 --> 00:01:07.609
don't need to understand the chemistry of toothpaste in order
13
00:01:07.650 --> 00:01:10.250
to brush my teeth. And I certainly don't need to
14
00:01:10.329 --> 00:01:14.989
understand every pathway involved in caffeine metabolism to know why
15
00:01:15.069 --> 00:01:18.439
I'm reaching for coffee every morning. But that doesn't mean
16
00:01:18.530 --> 00:01:23.719
understanding doesn't matter. From a behavioral science perspective, what may
17
00:01:23.799 --> 00:01:28.329
matter is whether consumers have a useful mental model. or
18
00:01:28.349 --> 00:01:32.659
a simple explanation that connects what is in the product
19
00:01:33.079 --> 00:01:36.620
with what it does, and ultimately, why that should matter
20
00:01:36.659 --> 00:01:40.540
to them. Let's think about gut health. A scientist might
21
00:01:40.579 --> 00:01:47.200
talk about the gut microbiome, microbial diversity, metabolites, or particular
22
00:01:47.560 --> 00:01:52.430
bacterial strains. Those concepts may be scientifically important, but the
23
00:01:52.469 --> 00:01:55.829
consumer may be trying to understand a much simpler question.
24
00:01:56.290 --> 00:01:59.390
What does this mean for me? Maybe the answer is
25
00:01:59.469 --> 00:02:05.549
digestive comfort. Maybe it's regularity. Maybe it's supporting long-term health goals.
26
00:02:06.170 --> 00:02:09.979
The challenge is connecting those two levels without losing the
27
00:02:10.039 --> 00:02:13.280
science along the way. That's the tricky part. And I
28
00:02:13.340 --> 00:02:18.060
think this is where functional ingredients create an interesting communication problem.
29
00:02:18.759 --> 00:02:23.409
If we give consumers too much scientific information, we risk
30
00:02:23.550 --> 00:02:31.080
creating cognitive overload. Ingredient names, mechanisms, dosages, pathways, and unfamiliar
31
00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:36.629
terminology can make something that is scientifically impressive surprisingly difficult
32
00:02:36.669 --> 00:02:39.650
to understand. But go too far in the other direction,
33
00:02:39.669 --> 00:02:44.469
and we create a different problem, such as supports wellness,
34
00:02:44.830 --> 00:02:50.039
or promotes balance, or helps you feel your best. Those
35
00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:53.639
statements may be easy to process, but what do they
36
00:02:53.719 --> 00:02:57.150
actually mean if they mean anything at all? Consumers may
37
00:02:57.189 --> 00:02:59.830
be left with a vague sense that a product is
38
00:02:59.889 --> 00:03:02.689
supposed to be good for them without really understanding why.
39
00:03:02.719 --> 00:03:05.539
I think we're seeing that a lot with protein these days,
40
00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:10.479
where all the products are now saying high protein or
41
00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:15.259
added protein. But how much protein does the consumer actually need?
42
00:03:15.939 --> 00:03:19.000
So perhaps the goal isn't simply to make the science simpler.
43
00:03:19.639 --> 00:03:23.479
It's to give consumers enough of the science to create meaning.
44
00:03:23.979 --> 00:03:27.750
There is an important distinction there. Imagine a functional ingredient
45
00:03:27.789 --> 00:03:34.430
designed to support healthy aging. The scientific mechanism might involve inflammation, metabolism,
46
00:03:35.009 --> 00:03:39.659
cellular processes, or muscle maintenance, but healthy aging itself is
47
00:03:39.699 --> 00:03:44.219
still fairly abstract. What does healthy aging mean to the
48
00:03:44.300 --> 00:03:48.219
person buying the product? Maybe it means having enough strength
49
00:03:48.310 --> 00:03:52.729
to continue hiking, keeping up with their grandchildren, or staying independent,
50
00:03:53.289 --> 00:03:57.439
feeling mentally sharp at work. Suddenly, we're no longer talking
51
00:03:57.490 --> 00:04:02.650
about a biological mechanism. We're connecting to that mechanism to
52
00:04:02.710 --> 00:04:06.330
a human goal. And that connection may be what makes
53
00:04:06.370 --> 00:04:09.740
the function meaningful at all. There is another interesting piece
54
00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:13.860
to this though, our expectations. The information we give consumers
55
00:04:13.939 --> 00:04:17.339
before they experience a product can influence what they expect
56
00:04:17.399 --> 00:04:21.589
from it. An ingredient name, a claim, an explanation of
57
00:04:21.649 --> 00:04:24.920
how it works, Even the format of the product can
58
00:04:24.959 --> 00:04:29.100
help create a prediction about what the consumer should be experiencing.
59
00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:33.360
Sometimes that experience is easy to recognize. Caffeine is a
60
00:04:33.379 --> 00:04:36.750
good example of this. I drink something, I feel more alert,
61
00:04:37.250 --> 00:04:40.750
and can make a relatively intuitive connection between the product
62
00:04:40.889 --> 00:04:44.189
and the outcome. Other functional benefits are a lot harder
63
00:04:44.230 --> 00:04:48.329
to observe. How do I know my microbiome has improved?
64
00:04:49.009 --> 00:04:52.439
How do I know a food is supporting my cardiovascular health?
65
00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:56.600
How do I know something I'm eating today is contributing
66
00:04:56.660 --> 00:04:59.899
to healthy aging years from now? When the benefit isn't
67
00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:04.269
immediately perceptible, the consumer may have to rely more heavily
68
00:05:04.709 --> 00:05:07.689
on the mental model we've given them. They need some
69
00:05:07.730 --> 00:05:11.970
way to understand why continuing the behavior is worthwhile. And
70
00:05:12.009 --> 00:05:16.750
that's why communication around functional gradients isn't simply a marketing problem.
71
00:05:17.269 --> 00:05:19.360
I think it's also an R & D and consumer
72
00:05:19.389 --> 00:05:23.379
research problem too. When we're developing a functional food or beverage,
73
00:05:23.939 --> 00:05:27.639
we can test more than whether consumers like the taste
74
00:05:27.660 --> 00:05:31.519
or find the claim appealing. We can also ask, what
75
00:05:31.579 --> 00:05:35.269
do the consumers think this ingredient does? How do they
76
00:05:35.290 --> 00:05:39.069
think it works? What outcome do they expect to experience?
77
00:05:39.709 --> 00:05:43.829
And maybe most importantly, what would convince them that it's
78
00:05:43.910 --> 00:05:50.430
actually working? Those answers can reveal misunderstandings, unrealistic expectations, or
79
00:05:50.509 --> 00:05:54.129
places where the science simply isn't connecting with something the
80
00:05:54.170 --> 00:05:58.269
consumers actually value. Because consumers probably don't need a biology
81
00:05:58.310 --> 00:06:01.389
lesson every time they pick up a product. But they
82
00:06:01.449 --> 00:06:04.620
do need a story that makes sense. Not a story
83
00:06:04.699 --> 00:06:07.720
that replaces the science, but a story that connects the
84
00:06:07.779 --> 00:06:12.680
science to their lives. For functional food innovation, that may
85
00:06:12.740 --> 00:06:16.600
be the real communication challenge, not asking how much science
86
00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:20.209
we can fit on the package, but how much understanding
87
00:06:20.250 --> 00:06:24.500
the consumer actually needs to make the function meaningful. So
88
00:06:24.579 --> 00:06:28.019
thanks for listening to our consumer perspective for agro food
89
00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:31.730
science industry high tech. I'm Michelle Nagella again, and I
90
00:06:31.790 --> 00:06:34.610
hope you'll join me next time as we continue exploring
91
00:06:35.110 --> 00:06:37.709
what behavioral science can teach us about the foods we
92
00:06:37.730 --> 00:06:40.399
develop and the people we develop them for.
