Papers by Alejandro Maiche
Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra eBooks, Feb 17, 2016
A navegação consulta e descarregamento dos títulos inseridos nas Bibliotecas Digitais UC Digitali... more A navegação consulta e descarregamento dos títulos inseridos nas Bibliotecas Digitais UC Digitalis, UC Pombalina e UC Impactum, pressupõem a aceitação plena e sem reservas dos Termos e Condições de Uso destas Bibliotecas Digitais, disponíveis em https://digitalis.uc.pt/pt-pt/termos. Conforme exposto nos referidos Termos e Condições de Uso, o descarregamento de títulos de acesso restrito requer uma licença válida de autorização devendo o utilizador aceder ao(s) documento(s) a partir de um endereço de IP da instituição detentora da supramencionada licença. Ao utilizador é apenas permitido o descarregamento para uso pessoal, pelo que o emprego do(s) título(s) descarregado(s) para outro fim, designadamente comercial, carece de autorização do respetivo autor ou editor da obra. Na medida em que todas as obras da UC Digitalis se encontram protegidas pelo Código do Direito de Autor e Direitos Conexos e demais legislação aplicável, toda a cópia, parcial ou total, deste documento, nos casos em que é legalmente admitida, deverá conter ou fazer-se acompanhar por este aviso.
Frontiers in Communication, Dec 5, 2017
Several studies investigating color discrimination across languages have shown a facilitation eff... more Several studies investigating color discrimination across languages have shown a facilitation effect in groups that employ more than one term to refer to a given color. While Uruguayans use "azul" to refer to dark blue and "celeste" for light blue, Spaniards use "azul" for dark blue and the compound terms "azul celeste" or "azul claro" for light blue. In this study, Uruguayan and Spanish participants discriminated between pairs of color stimuli that lie at different distances from each other on the blue color spectrum in three different sessions: a session with no interference (basic task), one with verbal and one with visual interference. Only the Uruguayans were more accurate at distinguishing between stimuli associated with different color terms. Furthermore, while both Uruguayans and Spaniards showed a category effect in response times, the effect was strongest for Uruguayans when items were closer to each other on the color spectrum (i.e., more difficult). This study is unique in that we observed different Whorfian effects in two groups that speak the same language but differ in their use of color-specific terms. Our results contribute to the discussion of whether and to what extent language or other cultural variables affect the perception of different color categories.
Journal of Sensory Studies, Feb 21, 2013
Food labels play a key role in attracting consumers' attention and providing information that... more Food labels play a key role in attracting consumers' attention and providing information that could largely influence their purchase decisions. The aim of the present work was to evaluate how consumers acquire information from food labels using eye‐tracking measures. Fifty‐three consumers completed two tasks in which they evaluated perceived healthfulness of the products and willingness to purchase by looking at three unknown labels of three different products (mayonnaise, pan bread and yogurt).Participants' eye movements were recorded using an eye tracker while evaluating the labels. Results showed that in order to evaluate their willingness to purchase and perceived healthfulness of unknown food labels, consumers directed their attention to selected areas, searching for specific information such as brand, ingredients, nutritional information and the image on the label, regardless of type of product and label design.Practical ApplicationsAttention measures based on memory have been reported to be poor indicators of what consumers actually attend to, mainly due to the fact that attention is not necessarily active and conscious. Eye‐tracking measures could be a useful way of studying consumers' processing of visual stimuli such as food labels. Results from the present study suggested that attention toward unfamiliar food labels was mainly determined by top‐down factors. Consumers mainly scanned the labels, searching for specific information related to brand, composition and nutritional information.
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Mar 1, 2014
Our visual perception is not perfect. It is prone to interference of configuration of elements an... more Our visual perception is not perfect. It is prone to interference of configuration of elements and irrelevant dimensions. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether combinations of white and black dots can interfere with the perception of numerosity. Participants were asked to judge numerosity of two serially presented sets of dots, while the ratio of black and white dots in the second set changed. Our results showed that the interference follows a 4 th order effect. Further studies needs to be done to investigate underlying mechanisms.
Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, Jul 1, 2015
To study the influence of 2 interpretational aids of front-of-package (FOP) nutrition labels (col... more To study the influence of 2 interpretational aids of front-of-package (FOP) nutrition labels (color code and text descriptors) on attentional capture and consumers' understanding of nutritional information. A full factorial design was used to assess the influence of color code and text descriptors using visual search and eye tracking. Ten trained assessors participated in the visual search study and 54 consumers completed the eye-tracking study. In the visual search study, assessors were asked to indicate whether there was a label high in fat within sets of mayonnaise labels with different FOP labels. In the eye-tracking study, assessors answered a set of questions about the nutritional content of labels. The researchers used logistic regression to evaluate the influence of interpretational aids of FOP nutrition labels on the percentage of correct answers. Analyses of variance were used to evaluate the influence of the studied variables on attentional measures and participants' response times. Response times were significantly higher for monochromatic FOP labels compared with color-coded ones (3,225 vs 964 ms; P < .001), which suggests that color codes increase attentional capture. The highest number and duration of fixations and visits were recorded on labels that did not include color codes or text descriptors (P < .05). The lowest percentage of incorrect answers was observed when the nutrient level was indicated using color code and text descriptors (P < .05). The combination of color codes and text descriptors seems to be the most effective alternative to increase attentional capture and understanding of nutritional information.
Food Quality and Preference, 2014
Consumers have a limited capacity to process all the information they face when 18 deciding their... more Consumers have a limited capacity to process all the information they face when 18 deciding their food choices and usually rely on effortless and intuitive thoughts. 19 According to the cognitive-experiential self theory human behavior is determined by the 20 interaction of the two information processing systems: rational and intuitive. Consumers 21 differ in their preference for these two thinking styles, which leads to differences in how 22 they make their decisions. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the influence of 23 rational and intuitive thinking styles on consumer choices and information processing 24 when evaluating yogurt labels. Seventy one consumers completed a choice-conjoint 25 task with yogurt labels. Three 2-level variables were considered: fat and sugar content 26 (low vs. high), label background (Background A vs. Background B), and traffic light 27 system (present vs. absent). Consumers were presented with 8 choice sets composed 28 of two labels on a computer screen, and were asked to indicate which one they would 29 consume. Their eye movements were recorded during the task using an eye-tracker. 30 After completing the conjoint task, consumers completed the Rational Experiential 31 Inventory (REI). Latent class cluster analysis identified two consumer segments with 32 different preference for analytic-rational or intuitive-experiential thinking styles. 33 Consumers who predominantly relied on analytical-rational thinking engaged on a 34 greater information search and a more thoughtful analysis of nutritional information for 35 making their choices than consumers who preferred intuitive-experiential thinking. 36 Besides, thinking style had a strong influence on the part-worth utilities of the evaluated 37 variables. Results from the present work provide preliminary evidence about the 38 influence of thinking style on consumer food choices, which can have potential 39 implications for the design of communication strategies aimed at changing dietary 40 patterns.
Monflorit Edicions i Assessoraments eBooks, 2010
Revista Argentina de Ciencias del Comportamiento, Dec 23, 2021
Psicología, Conocimiento y Sociedad, Feb 2, 2015
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Papers by Alejandro Maiche