AIM
To explore promotional design strategies for introducing mealworms in Norway.
FINDINGS
• Mealworms do not have conventional marketing strategies.
• Therefore, various strategies could be used for promoting mealworms.
• Most students used normalisation, product premiumness and playfullness as a promotional strategy.
• Promotion of cooking suggestions by icons and showing food images on the packaging could help linking the product with cooking practices.
• Packaging design can be used as a teacher for novel food products, challenging the notion of packaging as a 'silent salesman' to become a 'silent teacher' for novel food products in the supermarket.
• Two steps for mealworms are introduced: Excitement could be the first strategy to make consumers interested in mealworms, followed by functionality in order to gain long-term consumption.
