How consumption and reward features affect desire for food, consumption intentions, and behaviour

Farrar, S. T. and Papies, E. K. (2024) How consumption and reward features affect desire for food, consumption intentions, and behaviour. Appetite, 194, 107184. (doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2023.107184) (PMID:38158045)

Abstract

Understanding the mechanisms that underlie desire and intentions may assist in the search for strategies to promote the selection and consumption of more sustainable and healthier products. Therefore, we conducted two experiments to examine how cognitive representations influence desire and intentions for various savoury dishes. In Experiment 1, 1000 participants were allocated to one of five conditions, listing either the typical, sensory, context, hedonic, or health features of 20 popular dishes to assess cognitive representations, before rating their present moment desire to consume each dish. Although there was no direct effect of condition on desire, there was a significant mediating effect of condition on desire through the proportion of consumption and reward features listed (i.e., sensory, context, and hedonic words). In Experiment 2, 892 participants were allocated to one of four conditions, listing either the typical, sensory, context, or health features for the same 20 dishes, before rating their intention to consume each dish over the next four weeks. At a 4-week follow-up, participants rated how often they had consumed each dish. Again, there was no direct effect of condition on intentions, although there was a significant mediating effect of condition on intentions through consumption and reward features. This suggests that mentally simulating a previous consumption experience increases intentions to consume the dish in mind. The results also showed a positive indirect effect of consumption and reward features on behaviour through an increase in intentions. Describing healthy and sustainable products in terms of the rewarding consumption experience may increase desire and intentions to consume them, improving the health of both people and the planet.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Farrar, Dr Stephanie and Papies, Dr Esther

Creator Roles

Farrar, S. T.: Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing
Papies, E. K.: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Supervision, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing

• Authors: Farrar, S. T., and Papies, E. K.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > MRC/CSO SPHSU
• Journal Name: Appetite
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0195-6663
• ISSN (Online): 1095-8304
• Published Online: 27 December 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Appetite 194: 107184
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
306403		Using consumption and reward simulations to create desire for plant-based foods	Esther Papies	Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)	ES/T011343/1	SHW - MRC/CSO Social & Public Health Sciences Unit