The Application of Biometric Approaches in Agri-Food Marketing: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

A challenge in social marketing studies is the cognitive biases in consumers’ conscious and self-reported responses. To help address this concern, biometric techniques have been developed to obtain data from consumers’ implicit and non-verbal responses. A systematic literature review was conducted to explore biometric applications’ role in agri-food marketing to provide an integrated overview of this topic. A total of 55 original research articles and four review articles were identified, classified, and reviewed. It was found that there is a steady growth in the number of studies applying biometric approaches, with eye-tracking being the dominant method used to investigate consumers’ perceptions in the last decade. Most of the studies reviewed were conducted in Europe or the USA. Other biometric techniques used included facial expressions, heart rate, body temperature, and skin conductance. A wide range of scenarios concerning consumers’ purchase and consumption behaviour for agri-food products have been investigated using biometric-based techniques, indicating their broad applicability. Our findings suggest that biometric techniques are expanding for researchers in agri-food marketing, benefiting both academia and industry.