A wealth of research exists concerning the role of intrinsic attributes of ice cream (e.g. flavor, texture, appearance) on consumer acceptability; however, the importance of extrinsic product cues has not been as deeply discussed. Two studies explored the influence of extrinsic factors on consumer perception of naturally sweetened ice cream. The objectives of the first study were to 1) determine how consumers value label factors in evaluating ice cream, 2) identify an ideal target market for stevia-sweetened ice cream, and 3) investigate the relationship between consumer knowledge of sweeteners and perception of stevia-sweetened ice cream. Conjoint analysis revealed that sweetener type was the most important factor in consumers' liking and purchase intent of naturally sweetened ice creams. K-means clustering identified three distinct consumer clusters, one of which showed a strong preference for stevia. Consumers with higher knowledge of sweeteners were found to be more receptive to stevia-sweetened ice cream than those with low knowledge. The second study aimed to extend a proposed lighting-food temperature congruency effect to a cold food (i.e. ice cream). Adult ice cream consumers (n=136) evaluated four vanilla ice cream samples under warm or cold light. There was no significant main effect of lighting temperature (P>0.05). However, a significant interaction between lighting temperature and familiarity was found; when familiarity was high, warm lighting improved evaluations of overall and flavor liking (P<0.001). Findings do not support a lighting-food temperature congruency effect and instead corroborate existing evidence that warm lighting may improve food acceptability.
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