{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]],"date-time":"2026-10-01T12:11:13Z","timestamp":1790856673877,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":56,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"20","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,10,15]],"date-time":"2022-10-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1665792000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"the ELDORADO project \u2018Preventing Malnourishment and Promoting Wellbeing in the Elderly at Home through Personalized Cost-Effective Food and Meal Supply\u2019","award":["4105-00009B"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["4105-00009B"]}]},{"name":"the University of Copenhagen\u2019s excellence program for interdisciplinary research through the project \u201cCALM\u2014Counteracting Age-Related Loss of Skeletal Muscle Mass\u201d","award":["4105-00009B"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["4105-00009B"]}]},{"name":"the S. C. Van foundation","award":["4105-00009B"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["4105-00009B"]}]},{"name":"Innovation Foundation Denmark","award":["4105-00009B"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["4105-00009B"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Foods"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Immersive virtual reality (VR) videos can replicate complex real-life situations in a systematic, repeatable and versatile manner. New product development trajectories should consider the complexities of daily life eating situations. The creation of immersive contexts of a product with varying levels of appropriateness could be a useful tool for product developers in evaluating the extent to which context may influence food acceptance and eating behavior. This study explored virtual reality (VR) as an efficient context-enhancing technology through evaluations of protein-enriched rye breads and compared the effects of a VR-simulated congruent (VR restaurant) and incongruent (VR cinema) contexts on the acceptance in older consumers. A total of 70 participants were immersed in the two VR contexts and a neutral control context in a randomized order. The responses indicating the desire and liking for rye breads were measured, and the extent of immersion during context exposure was assessed by levels of the sense of presence and engagement. Immersive VR induced positive sensations of presence and a heightened level of engagement. The VR restaurant and neutral contexts were perceived as more appropriate for consuming rye breads and induced higher desire and liking for rye breads, which supported the notion of the alignment of congruent contexts with food desire and liking. The study provides new perspectives, practical methodologies, and discoveries in regard to the creation and application of VR-immersed contexts in food product evaluation. Moreover, it focused on a consumer segment (older consumers) that has seldom been investigated in previous relevant studies. The findings suggest that immersive VR technology, as a tool for evaluating contextual factors, is important for new product development. The good user experience among older consumers further indicated the potential value of VR as a context-enhancing tool for product development.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/foods11203228","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,10,17]],"date-time":"2022-10-17T00:04:55Z","timestamp":1665965095000},"page":"3228","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":31,"title":["Food Desires and Hedonic Discrimination in Virtual Reality Varying in Product\u2013Context Appropriateness among Older Consumers"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Xiao","family":"Song","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Food Design and Consumer Behaviour, Department of Food Science, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 26, 1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1270-2678","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Federico J. A.","family":"P\u00e9rez-Cueto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Food Design and Consumer Behaviour, Department of Food Science, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 26, 1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark"},{"name":"Department of Food Nutrition & Culinary Science, Ume\u00e5 University, 2409 Ume\u00e5, Sweden"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5145-4131","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wender L. 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