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This paper aims to examine the image realism effect, studying how changing the front-of-package visual affects the acceptance of an insect-based food by consumers. By comparing reactions to realistic and less realistic images of an insect as an ingredient, this research investigated how visual imagery can affect consumers’ responses, reducing perceived disgust or increasing expected taste.

Three experiments studied the impact of realistic (photo) versus less realistic (drawing) images for two types of insects (mealworm, cricket) on consumers’ psychological distance from the image, perceived disgust, expected taste, willingness to eat, purchase intention and food choice.

Study 1 demonstrates that using a less realistic insect image reduces perceived disgust, with psychological distance from this image and perceived disgust mediating realism effect on willingness to eat. Study 2 shows that a less realistic insect image, perceived as more remote, improves expected taste and willingness to eat. Study 3 confirms the results by measuring behavior: consumers were more likely to choose the product with the less realistic image.

The research focused on one kind of product and two ways of depicting this product, limiting the generalizability of the findings for other visual representations and product categories.

The findings suggest how brand managers can use the image realism effect on the packaging of novel, sustainable products to influence consumers, reducing their disgust and increasing their expected taste.

This research breaks new ground by explaining how visual cues on packaging affect the acceptance of insect-eating, drawing on construal level theory.

While recent academic research on entomophagy has predominantly focused on adults, the purpose of this child-centred research is to obtain a better understanding of young consumer acceptance of insect-based foods.

Two qualitative studies were conducted with a total of 43 French children aged 8–13 years. Study 1 (n = 22), based on semi-directive interviews, and Study 2 (n = 21), based on focus groups, included projective techniques and exposure to different types of insect-based products to help children express their feelings and thoughts.

The evidence shows that in Western children’s minds, insects are considered as culturally non-edible. Children predominantly reject insects as food because of their sensory properties and the disgust they arouse. However, their interest in eating insect-based food is embedded within experiential contexts specific to childhood, in particular the peer group, which makes insect-eating fun and challenging, and the family, which offers a protective and reassuring setting.

The authors advocate changing children’s sensory perception of insect-eating food through sensory and participatory activities. Manufacturers and policymakers should also draw on children’s peer culture to associate insect-eating with positive social experiences and foster peer influence.

Drawing on cognitive psychology theories and the literature in food science on food rejection, the authors contribute to emerging consumer research on alternative food consumption (AFC) focusing on cognitive, emotional and social factors of acceptance or rejection of insect-based foods by children.