Abstract Insects are a highly sustainable and nutritious source of protein, and, thus, incorporating insects in to Western food culture is one way to address major global challenges like global warming and deforestation. Consumer studies show, however, that Westerners’ willingness to eat insect-containing food is low. One formidable barrier is the perception that insects are disgusting, and it is generally believed that this insect-disgust is driven by a fear of contamination and disease. Another barrier is the lack of social norms related to entomophagy in the West. In the present study, we tested effects of fear of contamination and perceived social eating norm with a survey and a tasting session administered to a Danish college sample (N = 189). Correlation analyses and multivariate regression analyses revealed that selfreported trait-level Pathogen Disgust and Perceived Infectability did not consistently predict insect eating disgust, willingness to eat insects, or actual insect tasting behavior in the tasting session. In contrast, perceived insect eating norm emerged as a significant predictor of insect tasting behavior. These findings suggest that perceived social norms play a substantial role in Westerners’ (un)willingness to eat insects. The result gives reason for optimism for aspirations of introducing insects in Western food diet and point to avenues for harnessing social norms in marketing efforts.

中文翻译：

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我们将一起吃令人作呕的食物——西方食虫学规范基础的证据——来自昆虫品尝的厌恶

摘要 昆虫是一种高度可持续且营养丰富的蛋白质来源，因此，将昆虫融入西方饮食文化是应对全球变暖和森林砍伐等重大全球挑战的一种方式。然而，消费者研究表明，西方人食用含昆虫食物的意愿较低。一个巨大的障碍是昆虫令人厌恶的看法，人们普遍认为这种昆虫厌恶是由对污染和疾病的恐惧驱动的。另一个障碍是西方缺乏与食虫相关的社会规范。在本研究中，我们通过对丹麦大学样本 (N = 189) 进行的调查和品尝会测试了对污染的恐惧和感知的社会饮食规范的影响。相关性分析和多元回归分析表明，自我报告的性状水平病原体厌恶和感知感染性并不能始终如一地预测品尝会上的昆虫进食厌恶、吃昆虫的意愿或实际的昆虫品尝行为。相比之下，感知到的昆虫进食规范成为昆虫品尝行为的重要预测指标。这些发现表明，感知到的社会规范在西方人（不愿意）吃昆虫的意愿中起着重要作用。结果为在西方饮食中引入昆虫的愿望提供了乐观的理由，并指出了在营销工作中利用社会规范的途径。相比之下，感知到的昆虫进食规范成为昆虫品尝行为的重要预测指标。这些发现表明，感知到的社会规范在西方人（不愿意）吃昆虫的意愿中起着重要作用。结果为在西方饮食中引入昆虫的愿望提供了乐观的理由，并指出了在营销工作中利用社会规范的途径。相比之下，感知到的昆虫进食规范成为昆虫品尝行为的重要预测指标。这些发现表明，感知到的社会规范在西方人（不愿意）吃昆虫的意愿中起着重要作用。结果为在西方饮食中引入昆虫的愿望提供了乐观的理由，并指出了在营销工作中利用社会规范的途径。