Table 4.
Consumers’ perceptions of health effect of coffee consumption and consumers’ characteristics.
| Negative Perception % | Positive Perception % | Total | ANOVA | p -Value | |
| Total a | 75.2 | 24.8 | 100 | ||
| Perception of health effect of coffee (average) a | 2.29 | 3.70 | 2.91 | 0.000 | *** |
| Standard deviations | 0.500 | 0.484 | 0.762 | ||
| Socio-economic characteristics | |||||
| Negative Perception % | Positive Perception % | Total | Pearson’s chi-squared | p -Value | |
| Gender | |||||
| Men | 69.0 | 31.0 | 100 | 0.075 | * |
| Women | 78.3 | 21.7 | 100 | ||
| Age | |||||
| Below equal to average age | 69.6 | 30.4 | 100 | 0.015 | ** |
| Above average age | 82.1 | 17.9 | 100 | ||
| Level of education | |||||
| No academic degree | 72.0 | 28.0 | 100 | 0.153 | |
| Academic degree | 78.4 | 21.6 | 100 | ||
| Working condition | |||||
| Working | 72.8 | 27.2 | 100 | 0.047 | ** |
| Not working | 85.4 | 14.6 | 100 | ||
| Consumption and purchasing habits | |||||
| Type of coffee most frequently drunk b | |||||
| Espresso | 77.8 | 22.2 | 100 | 0.038 | ** |
| Non espresso-based coffee | 63.8 | 36.2 | 100 | ||
| Frequency of consumption | |||||
| One to two cups of coffee/day | 67.5 | 32.5 | 100 | 0.038 | ** |
| Three or more cups of coffee/day | 78.8 | 21.3 | 100 | ||
| Companionship in consumption | |||||
| On my own | 78.7 | 21.3 | 100 | 0.121 | |
| With others | 71.5 | 28.5 | 100 | ||
| Place of consumption | |||||
| At home | 75.5 | 24.5 | 100 | 0.527 | |
| Out of home | 75.0 | 25.0 | 100 | ||
| Method of preparation most frequently adopted c | |||||
| Moka pot | 76.6 | 23.4 | 100 | 0.409 | |
| Capsules | 74.4 | 25.6 | 100 | ||
| Consumption of caffeine d | |||||
| Low/medium caffeine consumption | 75.7 | 24.3 | 100 | 0.497 | |
| High caffeine consumption | 74.8 | 25.2 | 100 | ||
| Coffee Consumption for breakfast | |||||
| Never/rarely | 65.7 | 34.3 | 100 | 0.098 | * |
| Often/always | 77.1 | 22.9 | 100 | ||
| Coffee Consumption as a break | |||||
| Never/rarely | 70.6 | 29.4 | 100 | 0.106 | |
| Often/always | 78.4 | 21.6 | 100 | ||
| Coffee Consumption after lunch | |||||
| Never/rarely | 71.9 | 28.1 | 100 | 0.228 | |
| Often/always | 77.0 | 23.0 | 100 | ||
| Coffee Consumption after dinner | |||||
| Never/rarely | 76.0 | 24.0 | 100 | 0.382 | |
| Often/always | 73.2 | 26.8 | 100 | ||
| Place of purchasing | |||||
| Big retailer | 72.1 | 27.9 | 100 | 0.096 | * |
| Small retailer | 82.5 | 17.5 | 100 | ||
Note: *, **, *** Significant at p <0.10; p <0.05; p <0.01; a Based on the average value of coffee health impact perception. Negative and neutral coffee health impact (below or equal to 3); Positive coffee health impact (above 3). b “Espresso” type includes black espresso and macchiato, that is, with a small amount of milk; “Other types” include American long coffee (espresso topped with hot water), cappuccinos, decaffeinated coffee, filter coffee, iced coffee, and coffee powder. c The moka coffee pot is the most common coffee brewing technique in Italy. This results includes only the moka coffee pot and capsules as they were the most frequently ticked answers (94%). d Other sources of caffeine consumption, in addition to coffee, are: tea, energy drinks, coke, other caffeine drinks. Low/medium caffeine consumption has values of 1, 2, 3. High caffeine consumption has values of 4 and 5 in a 5-point Likert scale where 1 is “never” and 5 is “always”.