Isabelle Weiß

Isabelle Weiß did her bachelor's and master's degrees in ecotrophology at the Justus Liebig University in Gießen. Her focus was on consumer behavior in the area of health and sustainability. Isabelle worked within the scope of virtual consumer science where she designed and implemented an experiment that involved the collection and analysis of consumer data using eye trackers. She wrote her master's thesis at the Institute for Agricultural Policy and Market Research (JLU Gießen) in cooperation with the consumer research department at the German Institute of Food Technologies (DIL e.V.). The thesis focused on the effects of participant’s gaze behavior towards different placements and varying color schemes of the Nutri-Score label on packaging and price tags. The enthusiasm and skills she developed in the field of eye tracking led Isabelle to the chair after graduation. Isabelle has been a member of the team since June 2023, and dedicates her PhD to experimental consumer research using VR-and sensory technology in the field of consumer acceptance of alternative proteins in the European Union.

Research focus:

• Consumer behavior in food systems
• Acceptance and preference research on food innovations
• Food marketing (labeling)



Methodological expertise:

• Field experiments
• Innovative consumer research (eye-tracking, virtual reality)
• DLG Sensory Manager® Junior



Research projects:

Communities on Food Consumer Science (COMFOCUS) (completed)
COMFOCUS brings together, integrates on European scale, and opens up key national and regional research infrastructures in the field of food consumer science to all European researchers. COMFOCUS will provide the academic and private research community with easy virtual and transnational access to high quality services and resources. These are needed to harmonize and professionalize the European food consumer science community and to advance it beyond its current level of fragmentation.
To the Project
Circular and inclusive utilisation of alternative proteins in the mediterranean value chains (CIPROMED) (05/2023-04/2026)
CIPROMED aims to propose alternative protein sources for the Mediterranean food and feed value chain. Particularly, the objective of this PRIMA project is the integration of insect farming and microalgae cultivation in the Mediterranean supply chains, together with the management and valorisation of agri-industrial side-streams, as well as their transformation and fermentative bioconversion into valuable resources. The recovery of ingredients that are based on these natural resource-based substances will be performed through applying cascades of processes enabling the sequential extraction and fermentation of alternative ingredients. The suitability of the new protein ingredients in prototypes of food and feed, will be demonstrated in order to provide validated food and feed products, assured by a systemic LCA-based sustainability assessment. To achieve these goals, CIPROMED aims to adjust novel protein production to the unique Mediterranean conditions, creating a new, socio-economically feasible and environmentally sustainable alternative protein production system located in Mediterranean countries.
To the Project



Publications:

• Weiß, I., Teuber, R., Enneking, U., Kircher, C. & Mehlhose (2026). Polychrome versus monochrome Nutri-Score shelf labels: An eye-tracking study of consumer attention and choice. Food Quality and Preference, Volume 143, 105933. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2026.105933
• Mohebati, L., Iori, E., Haugaard, M., Stancu, V., de la Cueva, J., Rovný, P., Jansto, E., Mehlhose, C., Schäfer, A., Weiß, I., Hodgkins, C., Raats, M., & Timotijevic, L. (2024). European Perspectives on Public Benefit in Relation to Food: Insights from a Serious Game Approach. Sustainability, 16(21), 9559. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16219559



Teaching:

• Fundamentals of food sensory science and sensory marketing (B.Sc.) (since Winter Semester 2023)