Reasons for eating: An exploratory cognitive analysis

Although a great deal is known about what people eat and the demographic and life style factors associated with food habits, relatively little systematic work has been done to investigate why people choose various foods. The present study describes a common‐sense approach to this question. Based on a series of free‐ranging exploratory interviews, a questionnaire that asked persons to rate 35 menu meals and snacks in terms of four scales; pleasure, health, tradition and convenience, was administered to 248 males (N = 104) and females (N = 144) ranging in age from 17 to 72 years. Series of component and discriminant analyses were performed for each scale. Results showing significant differences for age, sex and nutrition knowledge demonstrate it is possible to identify salient, common‐sense meanings of foods that combine to determine their status as items of dietary choice. Apart from providing a rigorous technique for cognitive mapping of food meanings, these results suggest new possibilities for studying conceptual structures underlying food habits and preferences.

Key words:

• Food
• cognition
• pleasure
• health
• convenience
• tradition
• age gender