Whereas vegetarianism has long garnered attention from nutritional science and philosophy, psychological research exploring this eating behavior has emerged only in the past few decades. Six years ...ago, Ruby (2012) reviewed the extant literature on the psychology of vegetarianism, showcasing its promise as “a blossoming field of study.” In the time since, this line of research truly has blossomed, as subsequent work has addressed prior knowledge gaps and initiated new lines of inquiry. While evidence on previously studied topics of dietary motivation, moral values, gender, differences between vegetarians and vegans, barriers to dietary change, and disordered eating has continued to expand, new lines of research on identity, social experiences, flexitarianism, culture, and prospective vegetarianism have emerged. Recent psychometric advancements, moreover, have constructed useful measures to assess relevant constructs. The current review synthesizes this amalgam of research, identifying emergent themes and highlighting promising directions for future inquiry.
•Food choice motivations changed; increased emphasis on health, weight-control & mood.•Young adults notably likely to change food priorities.•Parents more concerned with family involvement, less with ...convenience post-lockdown.•Those living far from food-shops & in self-isolation vulnerable in future lockdowns.
The Covid-19 lockdown resulted in all but essential shops closing in many countries, with inevitable and immediate impact on food availability and choice. Reasons for specific food choices influence diet and mealtimes and can affect psychological and physical well-being. The current study aimed first to investigate whether individuals and families in the UK have changed their food choice motivations over lockdown and second to identify sub-groups in particular need of support in the event of future lockdowns. Two hundred and forty adult participants from the UK completed an online survey, consisting of a series of demographic questions, the Food Choice Questionnaire, the Family Mealtime Goals Questionnaire and some short open-ended questions. They were asked to consider their goals and motivations around food and mealtimes at two timepoints: before lockdown and Summer 2020. Results indicated that the sample placed more importance on health, weight control and mood when choosing their food after lockdown than they had before, and less importance on familiarity. A number of sub-groups were identified who may be particularly vulnerable to food-related challenges in future lockdowns including younger adults, parents and carers of children, those self-isolating and individuals who do not live within close proximity to food shops. These results are preliminary and larger sub-group sample sizes will be necessary to draw firm conclusions. Future research should consider the nature and impact of these challenges in more detail across a more varied population.
The world's food systems and environments have been changing dramatically, concomitant with changes in over- and undernutrition. We elaborate the science of food choice to better understand, analyze, ...and respond to relationships between changing food environments and food choice. The science of food choice is concerned with generating knowledge about causal drivers of food choice decision making processes and behavior within immediate food and social environments. Three fundamental and interconnected questions undergird this science; 1) what do people eat from the options available and accessible?; 2) how do people interact with food environments?; and 3) why do people decide to acquire, prepare, distribute, and consume foods as they do? Not all food choice behavior is rational, reflexive, or discrete, but is embedded in wider activities of daily lives. The science of food choice involves understanding influences from multiple systems that drive food choice for deriving sound, actionable policy, and programmatic recommendations.
•Food systems and environments have changed concomitant with over- and undernutrition.•Not all food choice behavior is rational, reflexive, or discrete.•Food choice is embedded in wider activities of daily lives.•We elaborate the science of food choice to understand food environments and choice.
Over time, meat has acquired a central place in French gastronomy. The role played by plant-based proteins, such as pulses, is less clear. In order to better understand it, this study seeks to ...identify how French non-vegetarian consumers structure their main dish, using an indirect approach. A total of 120 participants had to compose dishes, following six different scenarios, by selecting three images of food items out of the twenty proposed. Results provided information about: (1) the first food product chosen, and (2) how foods from different food-groups were associated. Our results indicated that (1) French non-vegetarian consumers generally constructed their main dishes using animal-based food products first. Some differences were nevertheless identified, in relation to the scenario presented, and the profile of the participants. Results also showed that (2) the food-groups most often associated within a dish were meat, starch, and vegetable. The pulse group, when used, was in general associated with the meat and vegetable food-groups. These findings provide new evidence of the structure of the French main dish. They also highlight possible levers that could be used to promote pulses to French consumers
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•When asked to compose a main dish, respondents took into account the evoked context.•They mostly structured their main dish around proteins from animal sources.•Food-groups associations varied according to the evoked context.•The most frequent food association included meat, starches and vegetables.•Pulses were barely used and often associated with proteins from animal sources.
Food choices are complex functions of several elements that could change over time. Nowadays consumers appear careful about sustainable food consumption: the behavior of “food citizenship”, as the ...practice to support a sustainable food system during the consumption actions, arises. This study aims to recognize the existence of food choice behaviors in the contemporary scenario and to investigate the relation between the food choice factors and the behaviors recognized. Following a quantitative research method, a sample of 380 participants, recruited from a traditional Italian food and wine event, completed a questionnaire in order to detect their attitude about food. Four current food choice behaviors were recognized: The Individualist, The Foodie, The Environmentalist and The Health enthusiast. The relation between food choice factors and food choice behaviors was explained. Several stakeholders could benefit from the study results, in order to better understand how to adapt products and marketing strategies to satisfy the emerging customer’s needs and awareness. Even if a person can identify themselves within a single food choice behavior, they become aware of other choice models expanding their personal point of view. Finally, new research scenarios arose for the researchers.
Adolescence is an important developmental period marked by a transition from primarily parental-controlled eating to self-directed and peer-influenced eating. During this period, adolescents gain ...autonomy over their individual food choices and eating behavior in general. While parent-feeding practices have been shown to influence eating behaviors in children, little is known about how these relationships track across adolescent development as autonomy expands. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify factors that impact food decisions and eating autonomy among adolescents. Using the food choice process model as a guide, four focus groups were conducted with 34 adolescents. Focus group discussion was semi-structured, asking teens about influences on their food choices across different food environments, their involvement with food purchasing and preparation, and perceived control over food their choices. Focus group transcripts were analyzed using deductive and inductive code creation and thematic analysis. This study found six leading influences on adolescents' food choices and identified additional factors with prominence within specific environmental contexts. This study distinguished a broader spectrum of factors influencing adolescent food choice that extend beyond "convenience" and "taste" which have previously been identified as significant contributors. The degree of control that teens reported differed by eating location, occasion, and social context. Finally, adolescents demonstrated various levels of engagement in behaviors related to their eating autonomy. Identifying the emergent themes related to adolescent autonomy was the first step toward the goal of developing a scale to evaluate adolescent eating autonomy.
During the outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the lockdown, various changes of dietary habits are observed, including both positive and negative ones. However, the food ...choice determinants in this period were not studied so far for children and adolescents. The study aimed to analyze the changes in the food choice determinants of secondary school students in a national sample of Polish adolescents within the Polish Adolescents' COVID-19 Experience (PLACE-19) Study population. The study was conducted in May 2020, based on the random quota sampling of schools (for voivodeships and counties) and a number of 2448 students from all the regions of Poland participated. The Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ) (36 items) was applied twice-to analyze separately current choices (during the period of COVID-19 pandemic) and general choices (when there was no COVID-19 pandemic). For both the period before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, sensory appeal and price were indicated as the most important factors (with the highest scores). However, differences were observed between the scores of specific factors, while health (
< 0.0001) and weight control (
< 0.0001) were declared as more important during the period of COVID-19 pandemic, compared with the period before, but mood (
< 0.0001) and sensory appeal (
0.0001) as less important. The observations were confirmed for sub-groups, while female and male respondents were analyzed separately. It can be concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic may have changed the food choice determinants of Polish adolescents, as it may have increased the importance of health and weight control, but reduced the role of mood and sensory appeal. This may be interpreted as positive changes promoting the uptake of a better diet than in the period before the pandemic.
► Consumers lack information about the environmental impacts of food consumption. ► Consumers seem unwilling to consume organic food and reduce meat consumption. ► Environmental arguments alone might ...not persuade consumers to eat ecologically. ► Ecological consumption campaigns should also highlight nonenvironmental benefits.
Food consumption is associated with various environmental impacts, and consumers’ food choices therefore represent important environmental decisions. In a large-scale survey, we examined consumers’ beliefs about ecological food consumption and their willingness to adopt such behaviors. Additionally, we investigated in more detail how different motives and food-related attitudes influenced consumers’ willingness to reduce meat consumption and to buy seasonal fruits and vegetables. We found consumers believed avoiding excessive packaging had the strongest impact on the environment, whereas they rated purchasing organic food and reducing meat consumption as least environmentally beneficial. Similarly, respondents appeared to be most unwilling to reduce meat consumption and purchase organic food. Taste and environmental motives influenced consumers’ willingness to eat seasonal fruits and vegetables, whereas preparedness to reduce meat consumption was influenced by health and ethical motives. Women and respondents who preferred natural foods were more willing to adopt ecological food consumption patterns.
The present study explored associations between food choice motives, attitudes towards and intention to adopt personalised nutrition, to inform communication strategies based on consumer priorities ...and concerns.Design/SettingA survey was administered online which included the Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ) and items assessing attitudes towards and intention to adopt personalised nutrition.
Nationally representative samples were recruited in nine EU countries (n 9381).
Structural equation modelling indicated that the food choice motives 'weight control', 'mood', 'health' and 'ethical concern' had a positive association and 'price' had a negative association with attitude towards, and intention to adopt, personalised nutrition. 'Health' was positively associated and 'familiarity' negatively associated with attitude towards personalised nutrition. The effects of 'weight control', 'ethical concern', 'mood' and 'price' on intention to adopt personalised nutrition were partially mediated by attitude. The effects of 'health' and 'familiarity' were fully mediated by attitude. 'Sensory appeal' was negatively and directly associated with intention to adopt personalised nutrition.
Personalised nutrition providers may benefit from taking into consideration the importance of underlying determinants of food choice in potential users, particularly weight control, mood and price, when promoting services and in tailoring communications that are motivationally relevant.
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