Consumer Perceptions toward Vegetables Grown in Plant Factories Using Artificial Light

Focusing on Modern Food Industry Volume 4, 2015 www.fmfi‐journal.org doi: 10.14355/fmfi.2015.04.002

Consumer Perceptions toward Vegetables Grown in Plant Factories Using Artificial Light An Application of the Free Word Association Method Yuki Yano*1, Tetsuya Nakamura2, Atsushi Maruyama3 *1,2

Department of International Business Management, Kyoei University, 4158 Uchimaki, Kasukabe, 344‐0051, Japan

Faculty of Horticulture, Chiba University, 648 Matsudo, Matsudo, Chiba, 271‐8510, Japan

3

*1

yano@kyoei.ac.jp; 2t‐nakamura@kyoei.ac.jp; 3a.maruyama@faculty.chiba‐u.jp

Abstract Plant factories using artificial light have received increasing attention in Japan as a means of restoring agriculture in the Fukushima region where agricultural lands were contaminated with radioactive materials owing to the 2011 nuclear accident.

The government is currently promoting the use of plant factories in the region by which safe and fresh leafy vegetables can be produced indoors. However, the market share of vegetables produced at PFALs remains small and consumers often lack understanding of closed plant‐production systems. Thus, the image and understanding of plant factories and such products needs to be improved, but little is known about consumer perceptions toward them. This paper attempts to reveal the current consumer perception of vegetables grown in plant factories with artificial light by using a free word association method and to identify the factors contributing to an improvement in its image and understanding. Visitors to the Kyoei University campus festival in November 2014 were asked to complete a questionnaire survey and 230 valid responses were collected. The respondents were asked to write down anything that came to their minds when thinking of “vegetables grown with artificial light,” “hydroponically grown vegetables,” and “plant factories.” The results show that many respondents had positive perceptions of vegetables produced at PFALs, such as “safe and reliable” and “stable supply,” while the words “artificial light” and “plant factory” evoked negative images occasionally. Further, the results of a chi‐square test of independence indicate that the level of consumers’ knowledge influences the formation of their attitude to vegetables produced at PFALs; specifically, prior knowledge of plant factories using artificial light can improve their perceptions. Tasting events, seminars, and advertising using mass media would thus become more important for the development of the plant factory industry and agricultural restoration in the areas affected by the disaster.

Keywords Plant Factory; Artificial Light; Hydroponics; Consumer Perceptions; Free Word Association

Introduction The Fukushima nuclear accident of 2011 released massive amounts of radioactive materials such as long‐lived radioactive cesium, which have contaminated the land surface in Fukushima and the surrounding regions. Soil contamination is the main factor that has delayed the restoration of agriculture in the region (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery Department of Fukushima Prefecture, 2012), and it will take a long time to decontaminate the farmlands completely. Even farmers in places with low radiation levels find it difficult to overcome harmful rumors and sell their agricultural products.

To solve these problems, plant factories using artificial light (PFALs), which can provide safe, healthy, and fresh vegetables all year round, are gaining increased attention. By artificially controlling the cultivation environment (e.g., the light, temperature, and culture solution) and using a multi‐tier system, PFALs can grow high‐quality pesticide‐free leafy vegetables very efficiently anywhere. Owing to indoor cultivation (hydroponics), the productivity of PFALs is independent of the outside climate and soil fertility, and the cultivation of plants in the facility is unaffected by seasons, weather, and foreign substances (Kozai, 2013). Therefore, safe and fresh vegetables can be produced in plant factories even in areas contaminated with radioactive substances. Thanks to financial support from the Japanese government, the number of PFALs for commercial production is increasing rapidly in

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Fukushima and other regions.

While having many advantages over traditional farming and greenhouses, PFALs also encounter the common challenges associated with high electricity costs for running artificial lights, high initial investment costs, and a limited variety of crops available for production (Yamori et al., 2014). Although their cost performance has improved significantly in recent years, not all PFALs are profitable presently. Kozai (2014) mentions that further improvements in cost performance will be possible within 5–10 years.

In addition to solving these technical issues, improvements in marketing skills are indispensable for the further development of the plant factory industry, because the market share of vegetables produced at PFALs is still small and consumers do not understand the products well. Since information on PFALs has often been reported in the media in recent years and these are being installed in restaurants and shopping malls, it seems that the image of PFALs has improved to an extent, although some consumers are worried about the nutritional value or taste of the products. In particular, the terms “artificial light (no natural light)” and “hydroponics (without soil)” often evoke negative images (Mitsibishi UFJ Research and Consulting Co. Ltd., 2013). Further improvements in the image and understanding of vegetables produced at PFALs are required to ensure successful agricultural restoration in Fukushima, but little is known about consumers’ perception and attitude toward them (Kurihara, 2014).

The objectives of this study were to (a) understand the current image that consumers have of hydroponically grown vegetables using artificial light and of the term “plant factory,” and (b) identify the factors enhancing consumer perception by examining the relationship between the elicited images and individual consumer characteristics. To achieve these objectives, we conducted a questionnaire survey and analyzed data using statistical methods.

We first asked consumers to write down the words that came to mind when thinking of “vegetables grown with artificial light,” “hydroponically grown vegetables,” and “plant factory.” This free word association method has become increasingly popular recently as a means of revealing the consumer’s innermost feelings about the subject (stimulus word), sometimes including information not anticipated by the researcher (Isojima, 2009). For example, a free word association test was employed to study consumer perceptions of conventional and functional yogurts (Ares et al., 2008), to examine the impact of packaging shape and color on consumer expectations of milk desserts (Ares and Deliza, 2010), to understand consumer perceptions of traditional food products in six European regions (Guerrero et al., 2010), and to investigate cultural differences in consumer perceptions toward rice (Son et al., 2014).

We summarized the elicited associations for each stimulus word, computed their statistics referring to evaluation measures for brand association in Ogawa (1997), and compared their differences using a correspondence analysis, to achieve the first objective described above.

Then, the chi‐square test of independence was used to investigate the relationship between the elicited images and individual consumer characteristics (i.e., demographic attributes and knowledge about plant factory products) statistically to identify factors influencing consumers’ perceptions of vegetables grown in PFALs. In particular, knowledge of PFALs is expected to have some impact on the image (You et al., 2013a). Results of these analyses can be useful in considering how to enhance the image and understanding of vegetables produced at PFALs. Materials and Methods Participants The study used data collected in a questionnaire survey at the Kyoei University campus, located in the city of Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture, Japan, roughly 20 miles north of Tokyo. A total of 233 visitors to the Kyoei University campus festival, held on November 3, 2014, were asked to complete the survey and data from 3 participants were rejected as incomplete. Therefore, 230 responses were considered valid, nearly two‐thirds of which were from females and one‐third, from males. Although 83% of the participants were residents of Saitama Prefecture, they varied widely in age, occupation, educational attainment, and the number of household members.

With respect to the knowledge of PFALs and their products, nearly 30% of the respondents had never heard the term “plant factory,” 46.5% of the respondents had already learned about PFALs from mass media, including television, newspapers and radio, and the rest had purchased or seen vegetables produced at PFALs in stores.

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Some of those who had already purchased or seen such vegetables had also learned about these from mass media.

Individual characteristics of the respondents are summarized in Table 1.

TABLE 1 CHARACTERISTICS OF SURVEY RESPONDENTS (n = 230)

Characteristic Gender

n

150 65.2 Household 80 34.8 members

Female Male

Age (years)

%

1

14

2

36 15.7

6.1

45 19.6

3

59 25.7

30‐39

32 13.9

4

63 27.4

40‐49

64 27.8

5 or more

58 25.2

50‐59

38 16.5 Occupation

Housewife

75 32.6

51 22.2

Saitama

Full‐time worker

190 82.6

Other

College/university

43 17.4 Knowledge of Had eaten or seen 81 35.2 plant factories Had learned from

Junior/technical college

60 26.1

the media

High School or less

89 38.7

Had never heard of

Other Education

n

20‐29

60 or older Residence

Characteristic

%

Source: Questionnaire survey

101 43.9 54 23.5 54 23.5 107 46.5 69 30.0

Free Word Association The survey questions themselves (e.g., questions concerning the merits of vegetables produced at PFALs) could have affected participants’ responses in some way. To prevent such bias, we asked participants to first complete the free word association task. In this study, the stimulus words “vegetables grown with artificial light,” “hydroponically grown vegetables,” and “plant factory” were presented and participants were asked to write down all the words or phrases that came to their mind. To reduce non‐responses, we indicated “Please write down at least three words or phrases” for each stimulus in the questionnaire.

Data Analysis The elicited words or phrases for each stimulus were first analyzed quantitatively. The words or phrases that had the same or similar meanings were grouped carefully into more inclusive categories by three different researchers.

For instance, “clean” and “sanitary” were grouped in the “safe and reliable” category, “nutrient deficiency” and “does not grow well” were grouped in the “anxious (concern) about the nutritional value” category, and “mass production” and “large scale” were included in the “large‐scale mass production” category. Then, the appearance frequency of the elicited category (image) was calculated based on the number of words or phrases that belonged to it, and categories having a high appearance frequency were enumerated for each stimulus. To better visualize the differences between stimuli, a correspondence analysis was conducted on frequencies of listed categories.

Further, as proposed by Ogawa (1997), evaluation measures for elicited associations (images) were computed for each stimulus in the form of (a) average number of responses per person, (b) information entropy of associations, and (c) the concentration ratio of the elicited words belonging to the top 10 categories (the degree of concentration of the 10 largest categories). The average number of responses is given by n

n , (1) y

Where n represents the total number of responses collected (i.e., the number of elicited words or phrases) and y is the number of respondents. This measure indicates the degree of impression about a stimulus word or phrase, and it is considered that the higher the average number of responses, the stronger the impression. Next, information entropy, which represents the richness of associations (variety of associations), can be expressed as H

m

  n  ln n  , (2) xi

xi

i 1

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Where xi denotes the number of responses for category i , and m is the number of categories. If all responses (elicited words) are equivalent in meaning, m  1 and xi is equal to n , and hence H  1ln 1  0 . Conversely, if all the responses are completely different from each other, xi  1 for all i and m  n , and thus m

H 

1

1 1

  n  ln n   n   n  ln(n)  ln(n) . (3) i 1

Accordingly, the value of information entropy H lies between 0 and ln(n) , and a higher entropy indicates a wider variety of responses (more information). Finally, the degree of concentration of the 10 largest categories, which measures consistency of associations (images), can be calculated by

 C10 

10

x i 1 i n

. (4)

It is thought that the higher this ratio, the more consistent the associations.

After computing the statistics described above, the chi‐square test of independence was used to examine whether there were differences in frequently elicited images by gender, age group, the number of household members, educational attainment, occupation, and the level of knowledge regarding PFALs. All statistical analyses were carried out using the computer software Excel Statistics 2012 (SSRI Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan).

Results Frequent Images The total number of elicited words was 551 for “vegetables grown with artificial light,” 546 for “hydroponically grown vegetables,” and 522 for “plant factory.” As mentioned above, the elicited words were merged into more inclusive categories, and categories (images) having a high appearance frequency were analyzed.

TABLE 2 FREQUENT IMAGES FOR ALL STIMULI

Frequent images Safe and reliable Stable supply Anxious about nutritional value Fresh and tasty Large‐scale mass production Anxious about taste Easy to grow Artificial Anywhere Thoroughly controlled Great possibility Low cost and cheap Harmful to the body Average number of responses Information entropy Degree of concentration (top 10) Total sample size

Vegetables grown with artificial light 96 76 68 17 9 38 16 9 13 8 8 9 17 2.40 3.34 66% 551

Hydroponically grown vegetables 81 41 48 55 5 17 25 6 11 2 3 3 1 2.34 3.71 58% 546

Note: The images mentioned by more than 10% of the responsents are in bold type.

Plant factory 61 50 6 7 60 7 4 25 15 25 18 15 3 2.27 3.85 56% 522

Frequencies of images that were mentioned by more than 10% of the respondents are summarized for all stimuli in Table 2. The correspondence analysis in Fig. 1 was conducted to better visualize the similarities and differences of the images listed. The result indicates that highly frequent positive words relating to “safe and reliable” and “stable supply” were commonly cited for all stimuli. However, it also indicates the existence of differences in images among stimuli. Negative words concerning nutritional value and taste were more frequently mentioned for “vegetables grown with artificial light.” Words relating to the traditional concept of a “factory,” such as “low cost

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and cheap” and “large‐scale mass production,” were cited more often for “plant factory,” which means that the term “plant factory” is easy to misunderstand. Respondents associated “hydroponically grown vegetables” more often with “easy to grow” and “fresh and tasty.”

FIG. 1 A CORRESPONDENCE ANALYSIS OF FREQUENTLY ELICITED IMAGES

By comparing evaluation measures among stimuli in Table 2, we found that respondents not only have a relatively strong impression but also consistent images for “vegetables grown with artificial light”; therefore, it is also easy for them to form these images. The lowest average number of responses, lowest degree of concentration, and highest information entropy for “plant factory” imply that it is difficult for consumers to form its images; hence, on the whole, this stimulus has a wide variety of images including misconceptions of PFALs. Differences in Images by Consumer Characteristics The chi‐square tests of independence were conducted to investigate whether there were differences in frequent images by individual consumer characteristics. We found that there were statistically significant differences in images only by the level of knowledge for all stimuli and by age group for “hydroponically grown vegetables” (Table 3). The fact that “gender,” “education (university or not),” and “occupation (housewife or not)” have no impact on images is of great interest. Concerning image differences by age group, we found that words relating to “fresh and tasty” were more frequently written down by young people but less frequently by middle‐aged people for “hydroponically grown vegetables.”

TABLE 3 THE RESULTS OF THE CHI‐SQUARE TESTS OF INDEPENDENCE

Differences in frequent images concerning knowledge

gender

Vegetables grown with artificial light

34.13

***

6.50

17.98

Hydroponically grown vegetables

26.72

***

5.49

22.85

Plant Factory

24.23

**

7.57

19.48

Note: ** p < 0.05, *** p < 0.01

education (university or not)

age group

**

occupation (housewife or not)

8.03

9.60

2.89

4.45

5.69

4.19

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Table 4 indicates the impact of the level of knowledge of PFALs on consumers’ images. First, respondents who had never heard of a plant factory were less likely to have positive images, such as “safe and reliable” and “stable supply” for all stimuli (except for “safe and reliable” for “plant factory”), and more likely to be anxious about nutritional value or taste for “vegetables grown with artificial light.” In addition, for “plant factory,” misunderstood images such as “low cost and cheap” and “large‐scale mass production” were mentioned more frequently by consumers without prior knowledge of PFALs. It is hard to interpret whether respondents without prior knowledge were more likely to mention “fresh and tasty” for “hydroponically grown vegetables.” This may be because “water use” in a hydroponic system evokes “fresh” or “juicy” images.

TABLE 4 THE IMPACT OF KNOWLEDGE OF PFALs ON CONSUMERSʹ IMAGES

Frequent images Safe and reliable

Vegetables grown with artificial light

Stable supply

16

41

Anxious about nutritional value

8

29

Anxious about taste

4

11

Fresh and tasty

8

Harmful to the body Easy to grow Total Safe and reliable Fresh and tasty

14

Hydroponically Anxious about nutritional value grown Stable supply vegetables Easy to grow

Plant Factory

Knowledge (familiarity) of PFALs Had eaten or Had learned Had never seen from the media heard of 19 52 + 25 ‐‐

‐‐

2

34.13***

‐‐

d.f. 12

31

++

p = 0.0006

23

+++

6

3

1

8

8

3 59 26

6 153 40

7 116 15

‐‐

26.72***

22

++

d.f. 10

6

+++

19

Χ

++

19 ‐

7

28

6

‐‐

25

17 +++

6

p = 0.0029 ‐‐

11

8

7 130 31

9 77 14

++

11

26

23

++

d.f. 14

Stable supply

13

30

7

‐‐

p = 0.043

Thoroughly controlled

2

13

10

Artificial (contrary to nature)

4

14

7

Great possibility

2

12

Anywhere Low cost and cheap Total

3 3 54

11 4 141

Anxious about taste Total Safe and reliable

1 60 16

Large‐scale mass production

‐

24.23**

4 + ‐‐

1 8 74

‐ ++

Note: The p‐value was computed using the chi‐square test of independence.

The bold font style and thick line frame indicate that the adjusted standardized residual is greater than 1.64.

The shading indicates that the adjusted standardized residual is less than ‐1.64. ** p < 0.05, *** p < 0.01; + p < 0.1, ++ p < 0.05, +++ p < 0.01; ‐ p < 0.1, ‐‐ p < 0.05

Next, respondents who had learned about PFALs from the media were more likely to write down words relating to “safe and reliable” and less likely to be worry about the taste of vegetables grown with artificial light. Further, they cited “stable supply” for “hydroponically grown vegetables” and “anywhere” for “plant factory” more frequently.

This is probably because they could learn what indoor cultivation (hydroponics using artificial light) is through mass media and figure out that plant factories can produce vegetables anywhere, without being influenced by the seasons, weather, or other factors. Besides, those who had learned about PFALs from the media wrote down “low cost and cheap” less frequently for “plant factory,” and this indicates that the misunderstandings about PFALs have been cleared up.

Finally, respondents who had eaten or seen vegetables produced at PFALs more frequently cited positive images such as “fresh and tasty” for “vegetables grown with artificial light” and “safe and reliable” for “hydroponically grown vegetables.” Also, they mentioned negative images relating to “anxious about nutritional value and taste”

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less frequently. These results indicate that eating or seeing vegetables produced at PFALs can remove misunderstandings and improve images of PFALs. To sum up, we found that frequently cited images for the three stimulus terms differ depending on the level of knowledge regarding PFALs that consumers have. Overall, consumers with prior knowledge of PFALs had a tendency to have positive images, such as “safe and reliable,” “stable supply,” and “fresh and tasty,” whereas consumers without prior knowledge were apt to have negative images such as “anxious about nutritional value or taste” or misunderstandings such as “low cost and cheap.” From these results, we can understand that knowledge of PFALs plays an important role in the formation of consumers’ attitude to vegetables produced at PFALs. Tasting events, seminars, and advertising using mass media that could increase consumers’ knowledge of PFALs would be necessary to develop the plant‐factory industry further and restore agriculture in the areas affected by the nuclear disaster.

Conclusions This study identified consumers’ associations to PFALs and their products by means of the free word association method and investigated if there were differences in frequent images by individual consumer characteristics.

The participants in the study primarily had positive images such as “safe and reliable” and “stable supply” for PFALs and their products. However, negative images such as “anxious about nutritional value and taste” were also frequently cited for vegetables produced at PFALs, and misconceptions such as “low cost and cheap” and “large‐scale mass production” were mentioned for the term “plant factory.” It is thus evident that there is still room for improvement in the image and understanding of PFALs. For example, the logos (on the packaging) designed for plant factory including both informational and emotional appeals, such as those described in You et al.

(2013b), will help consumers have a much better understanding of characteristics of vegetables produced at PFALs in stores.

The results of the chi‐square test of independence showed that consumers who had learned about PFALs from the media or eaten/seen vegetables produced at PFALs were prone to have a positive impression about the products, such as “safe and reliable,” “stable supply,” and “fresh and tasty.” On the other hand, consumers who had never heard of “plant factory” were prone to have a negative impression about these vegetables, such as “anxious about nutritional value or taste,” and to be mistaken with regard to PFALs, such as “large‐scale mass production” and “low cost and cheap.” The level of knowledge affects the formation of consumers’ attitude to vegetables produced at PFALs; specifically, prior knowledge of PFALs can improve their images. Tasting events, seminars, and advertising using mass media would become more important to develop the plant factory industry and promote the restoration of agriculture in Fukushima and the surrounding regions that have been contaminated with radioactive substances.

The limitation of the current study was that our results were based on biased samples collected in Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture, and most consumers who were asked to fill out the survey live in Saitama Prefecture itself. To improve the reliability of the statistical analysis results, it would be necessary to collect more samples from other regions randomly. At the same time, it would also be important to increase the number of samples. Additionally, since a free word association task (answering open‐ended questions) is a time‐consuming and demanding task for respondents, it might not reveal all attitude toward vegetables produced at PFALs. Finally, some within‐subject analysis, such as correlation analysis between frequent images, which was not conducted in the current study, would be an important task for the future. Nevertheless, the findings from a series of analyses in the present study provide useful insights into ways to improve images and understanding of vegetables grown in PFALs. REFERENCES

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Yuki Yano is a Lecturer in Kyoei University, Japan. He was born in Funabashi City, Chiba, Japan in 1980. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Agricultural and Environmental Economics in 2008 from the Pennsylvania State University, PA, USA. He has worked at Kyoei University, Saitama, Japan, since 2011, after working as a Postdoctoral Fellow for two years at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala, Sweden. His main specialities are in consumer behaviors and attitudes, agriculture and energy, agri‐environmental policy, and applied econometrics. Several papers relating to these fields have been published. He teaches introductory economics, marketing research, and basic statistics.

He is a member of the Farm Management Society of Japan, the Agricultural Economics Society of Japan, and the Japanese Society of Regional and Agricultural Development.

Tetsuya Nakamura is an Associate Professor in Kyoei University, Japan. He received Doctor of Agriculture from Chiba University, Japan. His major fields of research are food distribution and food marketing research. He teaches introductory microeconomics, mathematics for management, and food economics.

Atsushi Maruyama is an Associate Professor in Chiba University, Japan. He was born in Nagano and obtained a degree in Agricultural Economics from Chiba University. His research fields are applied microeconomics and econometrics in the economic valuation of non‐marketed goods, individual risk perceptions, and consumer behaviors.

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