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This study (1) evaluated the perceptions of Argentinian and Brazilian consumers regarding yogurt fortified with dairy proteins, legume proteins, or a combination of both, and (2) determined the satiety expectations of these foods as well as the consumers' intentions to taste and purchase protein-fortified yogurt. A total of 298 Argentinian and 100 Brazilian participants completed an online survey for this study. The free word association technique was used to investigate their perceptions about "satiety" as a verbal stimulus and 6 concepts of yogurt as visual/verbal stimuli (yogurt, set yogurt, skim set yogurt, skim set yogurt with a high content of dairy proteins, skim set yogurt with a high content of legume proteins, and skim set yogurt with a mix of dairy and legume proteins). The expected satiation and intentions to taste or purchase were evaluated using categorical scales. Regardless of their cultural background, participants from both countries expressed similar associations with the stimuli presented. Yogurt and set yogurt were associated with consumption occasions, sensory characteristics, liking, and foods, whereas skim yogurt was associated with diet food. Products fortified with proteins were associated with healthy foods, regardless of the protein source, and they yielded the highest rates for expected satiation. Brazilian participants were more likely to taste the food with a combination of proteins; however, participants from both countries were indifferent to purchasing the product. Important characteristics in the design and marketing of these products were pleasant sensations, such as "fullness," "satisfied," and snacks to eat "on the go," and the vegetarian consumers' segment. The combination with fruits or cereals, creaminess, and vanilla flavor should also be considered. The study findings could have implications for the dairy industry when designing yogurt fortified with proteins and communicating the nutritional and wholesome properties of these products.

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This study aimed to investigate Brazilian consumers' perception concerning foods processed by ultraviolet (UV) radiation and ultrasound (US) and define consumer segments considering their socioeconomic characteristics and eating habits towards industrialized products through free word association tasks answered by 1004 participants via an online platform. UV- and US-treated foods were more frequently related to unfamiliar words/terms (21.51 and 36.95%) and negative associations (36.25 and 26.70%) than positive ones (29.89 and 24.20%), respectively. Unfamiliarity and health risk concerns were more reported for US-treated foods by women aged 18-25 and ≥46 with low income, and low and frequent industrialized products consumption, as well as for UV-treated foods by consumers ≤35 years old with low and medium income, and low and frequent industrialized products consumption. This indicates that more clear and trustworthy information is needed before introducing these products in the Brazilian market, mainly for potential target consumer groups identified in this study.

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Currently, consumers' interest in healthy products has attracted the attention of academia and the meat industry, which has focused mainly on incorporating ingredients with healthier properties. In this context, the aim of this study was to investigate the social representation of original burgers and burgers with mushroom addition considering different sexes and body mass indexes (BMIs) of individuals. Thus, 209 Brazilians answered a word association task followed by a word classification based on their importance and valence for original burgers and burgers with the addition of mushrooms. To obtain the structure of social representation, the words were positioned into four distinct zones based on their frequency of elicitation and importance. Also, the polarity index was used to give a connotation to the words. Three groups of consumers were identified. The first group (consumers with class-1 obesity of both sexes) associated the original burger with positive categories (cheese, juicy, seasoned, food, tasty, joy, salad and delicious). The second one (female consumers with pre-obesity and class-1 obesity) associated the burger with the addition of mushrooms with the elements price, different, vegetarian, flavor, gourmet and healthy. Finally, the third group (men and women for both stimuli and with a wide range of BMI) characterized burgers with sensory attributes, feelings and moments of consumption. In conclusion, the social representation of the original burger and the burger with the addition of mushrooms differed among consumers, suggesting that the main associations can be the main motivations for the consumption of a certain product.

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RESUMO

This study aimed to identify the social representations of sports for Brazilian athletes with disabilities and to understand the extent to which sports can contribute to their empowerment. A total of 153 Brazilian athletes of various sports and with different types of disabilities took part in the study (122 men and 31 women; M = 31.91 years, SD = 9.46). The research was performed by an online survey by means of the free word association technique. All analyses were carried out using the Iramuteq computer program. The results indicated that the social representations of sports are related to individual and collective gains derived from practicing sports and that the representations are distinct according to the discipline practiced by the athlete. These results are discussed in light of the advantages of valuing the collective experience of athletes with disabilities as a group rather than as cases of individual overcoming. Social implications and possible future directions for research are presented.

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