Discussing prime motivators for trying new foods, Crouch's primary focus included the life stages with the years of greatest food neophilia (defined as new food exploration) experimentation and trial usage. Prime motivators for food choice define the consumer's willingness to try new, unknown foods and flavors from infancy through senior years. In Generation Y years (current ages 11-28), key motivators for trying new foods and beverages are tied to an individual's need to establish adult identities separate from his childhood self. Motivators also are stimulated by health and prestige.
Interest in trying new foods and beverages can be viewed as a form of risk-taking. The curiosity of trying new products can occur in the absence of sensory liking for the food or drink on initial tasting. New food trial involving strong or intense flavors or sensations, or bitter or sour tastes, may not be immediately pleasant to the palate. This type of experimentation demands a sense of the true explorer, going beyond the “safety net” of acceptable or easy-to-like food flavors. For food and beverage manufacturers who want to create truly innovative products using globally authentic flavors and ingredients, this type of food trial may be of particular interest.