Research into food choice investigates how people select the food they eat. An interdisciplinary topic, food choice comprises psychological and sociological aspects (including food politics and phenomena such as vegetarianism or religious dietary laws), economic issues (for instance, how food prices or marketing campaigns influence choice) and sensory aspects (such as the study of the organoleptic qualities of food).
Factors that guide food choice include taste preference, sensory attributes, cost, availability, convenience, cognitive restraint, and cultural familiarity. In addition, environmental cues and increased portion sizes play a role in the choice and amount of foods consumed.
Food choice is the subject of research in nutrition, food science, food psychology, anthropology, sociology, and other branches of the natural and social sciences. It is of practical interest to the food industry and especially its marketing endeavors. Social scientists have developed different conceptual frameworks of food choice behavior. Theoretical models of behavior incorporate both individual and environmental factors affecting the formation or modification of behaviors. Social cognitive theory examines the interaction of environmental, personal, and behavioral factors.
Taste preference Researchers have found that consumers cite taste as the primary determinant of food choice.2011 FMI US Grocery Shopper Trends Genetic differences in the ability to perceive bitter taste are believed to play a role in the willingness to eat bitter-tasting vegetables and in the preferences for sweet taste and fat content of foods. Approximately 25 percent of the US population are supertasters and 50 percent are tasters. Epidemiological studies suggest that nontasters are more likely to eat a wider variety of foods and to have a higher body mass index (BMI), a measure of weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared.
Environmental influences Many environmental cues influence food choice and intake, although consumers may not be aware of their effects (see mindless eating).Wansink, B. (2007). Mindless eating: Why we eat more than we think. Random House Digital, Inc. Examples of environmental influences include portion size, serving aids, food variety, and ambient characteristics (discussed below).
Portion size Portion sizes in the United States have increased markedly in the past several decades.Nielsen, S. J., & Popkin, B. M. (2003). Patterns and trends in food portion sizes, 1977-1998. JAMA: the journal of the American Medical Association, 289(4), 450-453. For example, from 1977 to 1996, portion sizes increased by 60 percent for salty snacks and 52 percent for soft drinks. Importantly, larger product portion sizes and larger servings in restaurants and kitchens consistently increase food intake. Larger portion sizes may even cause people to eat more of foods that are ostensibly distasteful; in one study individuals ate significantly more stale, two-week-old popcorn when it was served in a large versus a medium-sized container.
Serving aids Over 70 percent of one's total intake is consumed using serving aids such as plates, bowls, glasses, or utensils.Wansink, B. (2005). Marketing nutrition: soy, functional foods, biotechnology, and obesity. University of Illinois Press. Consequently, serving aids can act as visual cues or cognitive shortcuts that inform us of when to stop serving, eating, or drinking.
In one study, teenagers poured and consumed 74 percent more juice into short, wide glasses compared to tall, narrow glasses of the same volume. Similarly, veteran bartenders tend to pour 26 percent more liquor into short, wide glasses versus tall, narrow glasses. This may be explained in part by Piaget's vertical-horizontal illusion, in which people tend to focus on and overestimate an object's vertical dimension at the expense of its horizontal dimension, even when the two dimensions are identical in length.
In addition, larger bowls and spoons can also cause people to serve and consume a greater volume of food, although this effect may not also extend to larger plates. It has been suggested that people serve more food into larger dishes due to the Delboeuf illusion, a phenomenon in which two identical circles are perceived to be different in size depending upon the sizes of larger circles surrounding them.
Plate color has also been shown to influence perception and liking; in one study individuals perceived a dessert to be significantly more likable, sweet, and intense when it was served on a white versus a black plate.
Food variety
As a given food is increasingly consumed, the hedonic pleasantness of the food's taste, smell, appearance, and texture declines, an effect commonly referred to as sensory-specific satiety. Consequently, increasing the variety of foods available can increase overall food intake. This effect has been observed across both genders and across multiple age groups, although there is some evidence that it may be most pronounced in adolescence and diminished among older adults.
Even the perceived variety of food can increase consumption; individuals consumed more M&M candies when they came in ten versus seven colors, despite identical taste. Furthermore, simply making a food assortment appear more disorganized versus organized can increase intake.
It has been suggested that this variety effect may be evolutionarily adaptive, as complete nutrition cannot be found in a single food, and increased dietary variety increases the likelihood of meeting nutritional requirements for various vitamins and minerals.
Ambient characteristics
Salience There is a low grade evidence that changing the availability and positioning of food options may result in changes in food selection and consumption behaviours. Environmental interventions such as taxation, food-benefit programs, and increasing the availability of fruits can reduce the number of sweetened beverages consumption. Increased food salience in one's environment (including both food visibility and proximity) has been shown to increase consumption. Regarding visibility, food is consumed at a faster rate or at a greater volume when it is presented in clear versus opaque containers. Having large stockpiles of food products at home can increase their rate of consumption initially; however, after about a week's time the consumption rate may drop back down to the level of non-stockpiled foods, perhaps due to sensory-specific satiety.Chandon, P., & Wansink, B. (2002). When are stockpiled products consumed faster? A convenience-salience framework of postpurchase consumption incidence and quantity. Journal of Marketing Research, 321-335. Salient foods may increase intake by serving as a continuous consumption reminder and increasing the number of food-related cognitive choices an individual must make. Additionally, some studies have found that obese individuals may be more susceptible to the influence of food salience and external cues than individuals with a normal-weight BMI.Schachter, S. (1968). Obesity and eating. Science.
Distractions Distractions can increase food intake by initiating patterns of consumption, obscuring ability to accurately monitor consumption, and extending meal duration. For example, greater television viewing has been associated with increased meal frequency and caloric intake. A study in Australian children found that those who watched two or more hours of television per day were more likely to consume savory snacks and less likely to consume fruit compared to those who watched less television. Other distractors such as reading, movie watching, and listening to the radio have also been associated with increased consumption.
Temperature Energy expenditure increases when ambient temperature is above or below the thermal neutral zone (the range of ambient temperature in which energy expenditure is not required for homeothermy). It has been suggested that energy intake also increases during conditions of extreme or prolonged cold temperatures.Westerterp-Plantenga, M. S. (1999, November). Effects of extreme environments on food intake in human subjects. In PROCEEDINGS-NUTRITION SOCIETY OF LONDON (Vol. 58, No. 4, pp. 791-798). CABI Publishing; 1999. Relatedly, researchers have posited that reduced variability of ambient temperature indoors could be a mechanism driving obesity, as the percentage of US homes with air conditioning increased from 23 to 47 percent in recent decades. In addition, several human Marriott, B. M. (Ed.). (1993). Nutritional Needs in hot environments: Applications for military personnel in field operations. National Academies Press. and animal studies have shown that temperatures above the thermoneutral zone significantly reduce food intake. However, overall there are few studies indicating altered energy intake in response to extreme ambient temperatures and the evidence is primarily anecdotal.
Lighting There is a dearth of research investigating relationships between lighting and intake; however, extant literature suggests that harsh or glaring lighting promotes eating faster,Lyman, B. (1989). A psychology of food: More than a matter of taste. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. whereas soft or warm lighting increases food intake by increasing comfort level, lowering inhibition, and extending meal duration.
Music Compared to fast-tempo music, low-tempo music in a restaurant setting has been associated with longer meal duration and greater consumption of both food and drink, including alcoholic beverages.Milliman, R. E. (1986). The influence of background music on the behavior of restaurant patrons. Journal of consumer research, 286-289. Similarly, when individuals hear preferred versus non-preferred music they tend to stay at dining establishments longer and spend more money on food and drink.
Expert advice In 2010, for the first time, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) highlighted the role of the food environment in American food choices and recommended changes in the food environment to support individual behavior modification. The influence of environmental cues and other subtle factors have increased interest in using the principles of behavioral economics to change food behaviors.
Social influences
Presence and behavior of others There is a substantial amount of research indicating that the presence of others influences food intake (discussed below). In reviewing this literature, Herman, Roth, and Polivy have outlined three distinct effects:
1. Social facilitation – When eating in groups, people tend to eat more than they do when alone.
In daily diary studies, individuals have been found to eat from 30 to 40-50 percent more while in the presence of others versus eating alone. In fact, some research has indicated that the rate of intake is best described as a linear function of the number of people present, such that meals eaten with one, four, or seven other people were 33, 69, and 96 percent larger than meals eaten alone, respectively. In addition to these observational findings, there is also experimental evidence for social facilitation effects.
Meal duration may be an important factor in social facilitation effects; observational research has identified positive correlations between group size and meal duration, and further investigation has confirmed meal duration as a mediator of group size-intake relationships.
2. Modeling – When eating in the presence of others who consistently eat either a lot or a little, individuals tend to mirror this behavior by also eating either a lot or a little.