About

This event brings together two complementary seminars that move beyond traditional self-reported surveys to uncover what really drives consumer preferences. Using advanced neuroimaging techniques, including functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), researchers are now able to observe neural activation patterns associated with liking, decision-making, and emotional response to food products. These insights offer a more nuanced and reliable view of consumer behaviour, opening new possibilities for smarter food design and product development.

Alongside this, the seminars present emerging evidence on the “sustainability gap” — the disconnect between consumers’ intentions and their actual understanding of sustainability. Research shows that consumers often misjudge key sustainability cues such as food packaging and product origin, with important implications for how sustainability claims are interpreted, trusted, and acted upon.

Together, these seminars highlight how state-of-the-art consumer science can support more effective communication, better-aligned sustainability strategies, and informed decision-making across the agribusiness value chain. This event will be of interest to researchers, industry professionals, and policymakers seeking to better align innovation, sustainability, and consumer expectations in the future food system.

Timings

About Our Speakers

Prof Dr. Stephan G.H. Meyerding

Prof Dr. Stephan G.H. Meyerding has been Professor of Business Administration with a focus on market research and consumer behavior at the Faculty of Health at HAW Hamburg since 2019. Meyerding was born in Hamelin, the home of the pid piper, in 1983 and studied business administration at Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. He then worked as a research assistant at the Center for Business in Horticulture and received his doctorate from the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Hanover in 2016. Meyerding then worked as a post-doc at the Chair of Marketing for Food and Agricultural Products at the University of Göttingen, where he completed his habilitation at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences in 2019.