Appetite, 1999, 33, 7188

Article No. appe.1999.0232, available online at http://www.idealibrary.com on

Quantication of Consumer Attitudes to Health and Hedonic
Characteristics of Foods
K. ROININEN, L. LA

HTEENMA

KI and H. TUORILA
University of Helsinki, Department of Food Technology
Health and Taste Attitudes Questionnaires were developed to assess consumers
orientations toward the health and hedonic characteristics of foods. Items were
generated in a qualitative study. The original 37 items on health and 44 on taste
were rated from strongly disagree to strongly agree by a representative
sample of 1005 Finnish adults (1881 years). The number of items was reduced
using factor and item analysis, resulting in 20 health- and 18 taste-related
statements. Three health-related and three taste-related factors were extracted.
The health-related factors were labelled as General health interest, Light product
interest, and Natural product interest. The taste-related factors were named
Craving for sweet foods, Using food as a reward, and Pleasure. Cronbachs
alphas of the multi-item scales, based on the statements loading highly on each
factor, ranged from 067 to 089. Age and gender aected the responses. Females
were more interested in the health and taste aspects of foods than were males.
Younger respondents were less concerned with health but more interested in
taste than were older respondents. A preliminary test of predictive validity was
conducted by analysing subjects responses to foods with weak and strong
connotations of health and taste, and currently the questionnaires are being
validated with further behavioural tests. 1999 Academic Press
IN1onic1ioN
Consumer populations are increasingly segmented on the basis of their food
orientations, particularly attitudes. Identifying dierent segments of these populations
is important for nutrition education and also for product marketing. By tailoring
interventions to the subgroups, the eectiveness of nutrition education can be
improved (Contento et al., 1988). Product marketing needs consumer segmentation
for targeting dierent types of products on the right type of consumers. Contento
et al. (1988), in a study on adolescents food choices, found ve distinct consumer
orientations: hedonistic, social/environmental, personal, peer-supported and parent-
supported health orientations.
The study has been carried out with nancial support from the Commission of the European
Communities, Agriculture and Fisheries (FAIR) specic RTD programme, CT95-0574 Understanding
and improving the selection and acceptance of foods for health promotion.
L. Lahteenmaki: current address: VTT Biotechnology and Food Research, PO Box 1500, FIN-02044
VTT, Finland.
Address correspondence to: K. Roininen at Department of Food Technology, University of Helsinki,
PO Box 27 (Viikki B), FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
01956663/99/040071+18 $30.00/0 1999 Academic Press
72 K. ROININEN ET AL.
Several instruments that measure food-related attitudes have been developed.
One example of a validated instrument is the Food Neophobia scale developed by
Pliner and Hobden (1992), which assesses the trait of food neophobia in humans.
Another example is the VARSEEK-scale for measuring consumers variety-seeking
tendency (Van Trijp, 1995). Steptoe et al. (1995) developed and validated The Food
Choice Questionnaire, an instrument for measuring motives related to food choice.
Another concept that describes food orientations is restraint eating, which relates
to dieting behaviour. Several restraint scales are available (Herman & Polivy, 1980;
Stunkard & Messick, 1985; and van Strien et al., 1986).
Besides the healthfulness of foods, taste has been found to be an important
predictor of food consumption. According to a study by Koivisto and Sjo den (1996),
the main reason that family members reject foods, and the main reason for childrens
dislikes, was distaste, while the main reason for liking was good taste. Tuorila
and Pangborn (1988) found that hedonic preference was a signicant predictor of
consumption of specic high-fat foods. In a study by Brug et al. (1995), satisfaction,
and especially taste, were the most important attitude factors in relation to fruit and
vegetable consumption. Taste was most frequently mentioned as a criterion when
food was described either positively or negatively. Some research indicates that it is
the only criterion used when deciding whether to buy a particular food (Holm
& Kildevang, 1996). Wardle (1993) too, found that taste was rated as signicantly
more important than health-related characteristics. Although health and taste
have been found to be important predictors for food liking and consumption,
only a few studies have investigated both the health and taste aspects of foods.
One study that partially takes both into account was carried out by Contento
et al. (1988). They found that the most favourable evaluation of the attribute
tastes good was given by the hedonistic group, and the least favourable
evaluations of that attribute were given by the three health-oriented groups in
their study. The Food Choice Questionnaire developed and validated by Steptoe
et al. (1995) also links the health and taste aspects of foods with a broader
range of factors relating to food choice in general. These authors found sensory
appeal, health, convenience and price to be the most important factors aecting
food choice. Scales specically concentrating on the health and taste aspects of
foods would be useful for examining the types of consumers that value taste
more than health, and vice versa.
The aim of this study was to develop questionnaires for measuring the importance
of health and taste characteristics of foods in relation to food choice, and then to
preliminarily test the predictive validity of the developed questionnaires.
M:1ri:is :Nn Mr1nons
Subjects
The data were collected by a nationwide marketing research agency (MDC
Food & Farm Facts, Helsinki) from respondents who regularly answer research
questionnaires in their homes and submit their data using a PC and a modem
provided by the agency. The respondents are representative of the Finnish population.
They rated the statements in two parts, on two dierent weekends. On the rst
weekend of the study 1180 and on the second weekend 1237 respondents rated the
73 QUANTIFICATION OF CONSUMER ATTITUDES
statements. Two weeks after rating of the attitude statements, 1399 respondents took
part in a preliminary survey of the predictive validity of the developed questionnaires.
A total of 1005 respondents completed all three parts of the study (537 females and
468 males; age range, 1881 years; mean, 44 years; 32% had completed 12 years of
school).
Generation of Statements
In the rst phase of the study, 38 health- and 34 taste-related statements were
generated by the authors using health and taste characteristics of foods that were
identied in a qualitative interview study (Roininen et al., Note 1) and in the
literature. Both negatively and positively worded statements were formulated. These
statements were pretested with 18 students and sta members of the University.
Based on the results of this pretest, 21 health statements were discarded and 6 health-
and 2 taste-related statements were reformulated. In the next phase, 22 new health-
and 10 new taste-related statements were generated. These new statements were
pretested with 17 students and sta members, resulting in 37 health- and 44 taste-
related statements for the nal testing. In both pretest situations respondents rated
the statements and they were asked to comment if they did not understand the
statement or if it was not clearly formulated in their opinion. Statements not
dierentiating among respondents or those with a severely skewed distribution were
discarded. A statement was reformulated if several respondents commented on the
clarity.
Procedure
The nal testing of the statements was done in two parts, on two dierent
weekends. On the rst weekend, respondents rated 35 health- and taste-related
attitude statements, and on the second weekend, they rated 46 statements. Statements
were scored on a 7-point Likert scale with the categories ranging from strongly
disagree to strongly agree.
In order to test the predictive validity of the developed questionnaires, a choice
task in which respondents reported their choice of a snack food was conducted 2
weeks after the second set of statements was tested. In this choice task, 13 food pairs,
including 17 dierent foods described by name, were presented to the respondents on
a computer screen. The respondents task was to select from each food pair one
food for an afternoon snack or a part of an afternoon snack. After the choice task,
respondents rated the pleasantness of these 17 foods on a 7-point scale ranging from
extremely unpleasant to extremely pleasant. The healthfulness of the same foods
was rated on a 7-point scale ranging from extremely unhealthy to extremely
healthy. The foods were selected to represent healthy, less healthy, pleasant, and
less pleasant foods and food pairs, and some pairs were chosen to be approximately
equal in healthfulness in order to mask our interest in healthful food choices. Four
of the food pairs (eight foods: full-fat chocolate barreduced-fat chocolate bar, full-
fat cheesereduced-fat cheese, full-fat milkreduced-fat milk, soft drinkarticially
sweetened soft drink) were used for assessing the preliminary predictive validity of
the questionnaires developed in the present study. These pairs were selected because
74 K. ROININEN ET AL.
reduced-fat foods are in general considered healthier and less pleasant than their
full-fat counterparts (Tuorila et al., 1994). Furthermore we aimed at including
dierent types of foods and beverages. In addition we wanted foods which the
consumers consider either healthful or not healthful. The results of the remaining
food pairs are not reported here.
D:1: AN:ixsis
The distributions of the items were evaluated. Based on the distributions of the
37 health-related items and the 44 taste-related items, items either not dierentiating
among respondents or with a severely skewed distribution were discarded. The
remaining items (37 health-related and 34 taste-related items) were recorded, with
high values indicating a positive aspect of the dimension and low values a negative
aspect. Items not clearly loading on a single factor and items with factor loadings
under 05 were excluded from further analysis. However, some of the items were
included even when loadings were under 05 because we wanted to balance the scale
in terms of negatively and positively worded items. Thus, each set of items was
composed of an equal number of positively and negatively worded statements.
Ratings of the remaining statements were factor analysed using the method of
Maximum Likelihood with Varimax rotation, and the internal reliability of each
factor was tested using Cronbachs alpha.
The scales were constructed on the basis of factor and reliability analysis, and
respondents were divided into three groups depending on their scale values, using
the 33rd and 66th percentile points as cut-o points. These groups were designated
low, moderate and high groups, respectively. A three-way analysis of variance
was used to test how gender, education and age aect scores on the developed scales.
The eect of age was tested in ve respondent subgroups: under 29 years, 3039,
4049, 5059 and over 60 years of age; the eect of education was compared for
those who had completed 12 years of school and those with under 12 years of school.
Ratings of the pleasantness and healthfulness of each of the foods in the snack
choice task were used to demonstrate how attitudes aect perceptions of these
characteristics. For each food separately, a one-way analysis of variance was con-
ducted on the healthfulness ratings with Health subscale group (low, moderate, high)
as the independent variable and on the pleasantness ratings with Taste subscale
group as the independent variable.
The relationship of ratings on the Health and Taste subscales for food choices
in the snack choice task was examined by counting the number of healthfulnot
pleasant and pleasantnot healthful selections, respectively. If the reduced-fat or
articially sweetened version of the food pair was chosen and if the respondent also
considered it both more healthful and less pleasant than the food not chosen, then
the choice was counted as a healthfulnot pleasant choice. If the full-fat or sugar
version of the food pair was chosen and if the respondent also considered it less
healthful and more pleasant than the food not chosen, then the choice was
counted as a pleasantnot healthful choice. The numbers of these healthfulnot
pleasant and pleasantnot healthful choices were then compared for dierent
subgroups of respondents. The eect of the Health subscales on the number of
healthfulnot pleasant food choices and the eect of the Taste subscales on
75 QUANTIFICATION OF CONSUMER ATTITUDES
the number of pleasantnot healthful food choices, were tested by one-way
analysis of variance.
Rrsii1s
Construction of the Health and Taste Scales
Item evaluation using distributions and factor loadings resulted in the retention
of 20 health-related items loading on three factors, and 18 taste-related items loading
on three factors. A conrmatory factor analysis was conducted to make sure that
all items loaded on factors as expected. This procedure conrmed three health-
related factors which accounted for 456% of the variance, and three taste-related
factors accounting for 411% of the variance. The results of the conrmatory factor
analysis are presented in Tables 1 and 2.
The Health scale factor 1 consisted of eight statements related to an interest in
eating healthily, and it was therefore labelled as General health interest. Factor 2
included six items related to an interest in eating reduced-fat foods and this factor
was labelled Light product interest. Factor 3 was composed of six items involving an
interest in eating foods that do not contain additives and are unprocessed, and this
factor was labelled Natural product interest. Factor 1 in the Taste scale consisted of
six statements related to cravings for chocolate, sweets and ice-cream, and it was
therefore labelled Craving for sweet foods. Factor 2 consisted of six statements
considering food as a reward, and it was thus labelled Using food as a reward. Factor
3 included six items related to the importance of obtaining pleasure from food, and
this factor was labelled Pleasure.
The Health and Taste subscales were constructed by computing the mean of the
individual items in each factor; thus the scores on the subscales ranged from a
minimum of 1 to a maximum of 7. A high score on the Health subscales thus means
a high degree of health, light product and natural product interest, and a high score
on the Taste scale implies a high level of craving for sweet foods, used of food as a
reward and of seeking pleasure from food. The subscale means, and 33rd and 66th
percentile points, which were used as the cut-os for dividing the respondents into
three groups, are presented in Table 3.
There were some intercorrelations among the subscales of the Health and Taste
scales. Some moderate correlations were found among the Health subscales. General
health interest correlated moderately with Light product interest and with Natural
product interest. Among the Taste subscales, there was a moderate correlation between
Using food as a reward and Craving for sweet foods (Table 4).
Associations with Gender, Education and Age
Women, F(1,985)=434, p<0001, older respondents, F(4,985)=117, p<0001,
and respondents who had completed 12 years of school, F(1,985)=44, p<005, rated
higher in General health interest than did men, younger respondents and respondents
who had not completed 12 years of school. Women were higher, F(1,985)=123,
p<001, in Light product interest than men. In Natural products interest, women,
F(1,985)=437, p<0001, and older respondents, F(4,985)=95, p<0001, rated higher
than men and younger respondents. On the Taste scale, women, F(1,985)=181,
76 K. ROININEN ET AL.
T:nir 1.
Description of the subscales to determine attitudes toward healthfulness of foods
a
Statement Mean SD Factor Commu- Item-total
loading nality correlation
General health interest
1.R The healthiness of food has little impact 48 17 072 060 073
on my food choices.
2. I am very particular about the 43 17 072 059 070
healthiness of food I eat.
3.R I eat what I like and I do not worry 43 18 070 058 071
much about the healthiness of food.
4. It is important for me that my diet is 47 17 066 056 070
low in fat.
5. I always follow a healthy and balanced 39 16 067 050 064
diet.
6. It is important for me that my daily diet 50 15 064 047 063
contains a lot of vitamins and minerals.
7.R The healthiness of snacks makes no 46 17 063 047 064
dierence to me.
8.R I do not avoid foods, even if they may 44 18 045 044 056
raise my cholesterol.
Eigenvalue=61, Variance %=304,
Cronbachs =089
Light product interest
1.R I do not think that light products are 47 16 081 068 066
healthier than conventional products.
2.R In my opinion, the use of light products 46 16 078 064 067
does not improve ones health.
3.R In my opinion, light products dont help 47 15 072 053 062
to drop cholesterol levels.
4. I believe that eating light products keep 46 15 062 041 062
ones cholesterol level under control.
5. I believe that eating light products keeps 41 16 049 029 055
ones body in good shape.
6. In my opinion by eating light products 39 16 032 011 037
one can eat more without getting too
many calories.
Eigenvalue=20, Variance %=99,
Cronbachs =082
Natural product interest
1. I try to eat foods that do not contain 45 16 072 059 063
additives.
2.R I do not care about additives in my daily 46 16 066 054 062
diet.
3. I do not eat processed foods, because I 40 16 058 039 048
do not know what they contain.
4. I would like to eat only organically 33 19 056 036 053
grown vegetables.
5.R In my opinion, articially avoured 44 16 040 016 034
foods are not harmful for my health.
6.R In my opinion, organically grown foods 44 17 039 022 042
are no better for my health than those
grown conventionally.
Eigenvalue=11, Variance %=53,
Cronbachs =076
a
Negative statements are marked with an R after the statement number. These statements were
recoded for the nal scores.
77 QUANTIFICATION OF CONSUMER ATTITUDES
T:nir 2.
Description of the subscales to determine attitudes toward taste
a
Statement Mean SD Factor Commu- Item-total
loading nality correlation
Craving for sweet foods
1.R In my opinion it is strange that some 42 20 082 074 074
people have cravings for chocolate.
2.R In my opinion it is strange that some 41 19 081 071 072
people have cravings for sweets.
3.R In my opinion it is strange that some 43 19 075 060 067
people have cravings for ice-cream.
4. I often have cravings for sweets. 35 20 054 048 066
5. I often have cravings for chocolate. 35 20 053 051 067
6. I often have cravings for ice-cream. 33 19 045 033 056
Eigenvalue=51, Variance %=211,
Cronbachs =087
Using food as a reward
1. I reward myself by buying something 40 18 080 066 065
really tasty.
2. I indulge myself by buying something 43 18 073 062 064
really delicious.
3. When I am feeling down I want to treat 38 18 064 049 057
myself with something really delicious.
4.R I avoid rewarding myself with food. 39 17 053 038 058
5.R In my opinion, comforting oneself by 30 17 034 019 041
eating is self-deception.
6.R I try to avoid eating delicious food when 44 17 032 023 039
I am feeling down.
Eigenvalue=20, Variance %=85,
Cronbachs =079
Pleasure
1.R I do not believe that food should always 46 17 061 037 050
be source of pleasure.
2.R The appearance of food makes no 54 14 057 038 044
dierence to me.
3. When I eat, I concentrate on enjoying 53 14 054 029 041
the taste of food.
4. It is important for me to eat delicious 51 14 049 028 042
food on weekdays as well as weekends.
5. An essential part of my weekend is 43 17 044 025 036
eating delicious food.
6.R I nish my meal even when I do not like 37 17 033 011 027
the taste of a food.
Eigenvalue=13, Variance %=54,
Cronbachs =067
a
Negative statements are marked with an R after the statement number. These statements were
recoded for the nal scores.
p<0001, and younger respondents, F(4,985)=194, p<0001, rated higher in Craving
for sweet foods than did men and older respondents. In Using food as a reward,
younger respondents, F(4,985)=158, p<0001, rated higher than older respondents.
78 K. ROININEN ET AL.
T:nir 3.
Health and Taste subscale means and the 33rd and 66th percentile cut-points used for
dividing respondents into low, moderate and high groups
Subscale Mean SD 33rd percentile 66th percentile
point point
General health interest 45 13 40 51
Light product interest 44 11 40 50
Natural product interest 42 11 37 47
Craving for sweet foods 38 15 32 45
Using food as a reward 39 12 35 43
Pleasure 47 10 43 52
T:nir 4.
Correlations among Health and Taste attitude subscales
General Light Natural Craving Using Pleasure
health product product for sweet food as
interest interest interest foods a reward
General health interest 1
Light product interest 043 1
Natural product interest 049 021 1
Craving for sweet foods 020 006 016 1
Using food as a reward 027 0.08 020 053 1
Pleasure 005 002 006 018 027 1
p<0001; p<0.01; p<0.05.
In Pleasure, women, F(1,985)=92, p<0001, rated higher than men. Gender dier-
ences are presented in Figure 1 and age dierences in Figure 2.
Perceived Healthiness and Pleasantness of Foods in Different Subgroups
Eight foods (mentioned earlier) were used for describing the impact of attitudes
on perceived healthfulness (Table 5) and pleasantness (Table 6) of foods. Respondents
with a positive attitude toward General health interest rated non-fat milk and reduced-
fat cheese as healthier, and full-fat milk, the full-fat chocolate bar, full-fat cheese
and the soft drink as less healthy than respondents with negative attitudes toward
General health interest. Respondents high in Light product interest rated non-fat milk,
reduced-fat cheese and articially sweetened soft drinks as higher on healthiness,
and full-fat milk, the full-fat chocolate bar, full-fat cheese and soft drinks as lower
on healthiness than respondents low on that subscale. Respondents high in Natural
product interest considered articially sweetened soft drink less healthy than did
respondents low in Natural product interest (Fig. 3a, b and c).
The pleasantness of the full-fat chocolate bar, reduced-fat chocolate bar, full-fat
cheese, soft drink and articially sweetened soft drink was rated highest by the
respondents on the Craving for sweet foods and Using food as a reward subscales.
The high ratings of pleasantness for full-fat cheese was related to higher scores on
79 QUANTIFICATION OF CONSUMER ATTITUDES
7
1
Craving for
sweet foods
Agree
strongly
Pleasure
5
6
4
3
2
Disagree
strongly
Using food as a
reward
(b)
***
***
7
1
General health
interest
Agree
strongly
Natural product
interest
5
6
4
3
2
Disagree
strongly
Light product
interest
(a)
***
***
***
Ficir 1. Gender dierences in scores on the (a) Health and (b) Taste subscales
(meanSEM). Signicant dierences: =p<0001; =p<001; =p<005. , female; ,
male.
Pleasure and the high ratings of pleasantness for full-fat milk was related to lower
scores on Pleasure (Fig. 4a, b and c).
Preliminary Assessment of the Predictive Validity of the Health Scale
In the Health scale ndings, respondents who were high on General health interest,
F(2,1002)=845, p<0001, Light product interest, F(2,1002)=709, p<0001, and
Natural product interest, F(2,1002)=59, p<001, made more healthfulnot pleasant
food choices than those who were moderate or low on these scales (Fig. 5a).
Respondents who rated low on Craving for sweet foods, F(2,1002)=75, p<0001,
made fewer pleasantnot healthful food choices than those who were moderate
or high on this subscale. Respondents low or moderate in Using food as a reward,
F(2,1002)=62, p<001, made fewer pleasantnot healthful food choices than those
high on that subscale. No eect of pleasure was found on pleasantnot healthful
food choices, F(2,1002)=13, p=02594, (Fig. 5b).
80 K. ROININEN ET AL.
7
1
Age under 29
5
6
4
3
2
Age 3039 Age 4049 Age 5059 Age over 60
Craving for sweet foods
Using food as a reward
Pleasure
(b)
7
1
Age under 29
5
6
4
3
2
Strongly
agree
Age 3039 Age 4049 Age 5059 Age over 60
General health interest
Light product interest
Natural product interest
(a)
Strongly
disagree
Strongly
agree
Strongly
disagree
Ficir 2. Age dierences in scores on the (a) Health and (b) Taste subscales.
T:nir 5.
One-way analysis of variance results of food healthfulness with Health subscales (df
1
2,
df
2
1002)
General health Light product Natural product
interest interest interest
F F F
Reduced-fat cheese 162 222 104
Full-fat cheese 196 196 1.3
Non-fat milk 263 376 66
Full-fat milk 122 114 03
Reduced-fat chocolate bar 11 27 07
Full-fat chocolate bar 138 124 51
Articially sweetened soft drink 12 87 61
Soft drink 81 117 37
p<0001; p<001; p<005.
DiscissioN
Subscale Characteristics and Correlations
This study identied, three salient dimensions of healthy eating: General health
interest, Light product interest and Natural product interest, and three salient factors
relating to taste: Craving for sweet foods, Using food as a reward and Pleasure were
identied. In addition to these six subscales there were a few items that loaded on
81 QUANTIFICATION OF CONSUMER ATTITUDES
T:nir 6.
One-way analysis of variance results of food pleasantness with Taste subscales (df
1
2,
df
2
1002)
Craving for Using food as Pleasure
sweet foods a reward
F F F
Reduced-fat cheese 02 26 15
Full-fat cheese 211 133 6.3
Non-fat milk 08 06 77
Full-fat milk 27 52 31
Reduced-fat chocolate bar 429 131 19
Full-fat chocolate bar 1253 397 23
Articially sweetened soft drink 64 41 03
Soft drink 241 214 14
p<0001; p<001; p<005.
a factor which could be interpreted as Feeling guilty about eating. Due to the
correlation with General health interest and the unbalanced number of negative and
positive worded items, we decided not to include this dimension as a separate
subscale; thus we have not reported guilt items in this paper. In terms of the
individual subscales, earlier studies have shown health to be an important factor
aecting food choice (Hayes & Ross, 1987; Steptoe et al., 1995; Tuorila, 1987;
Tuorila & Pangborn, 1988; Wardle, 1993). But few instruments have been developed
to measure this tendency. Such scales have sometimes been part of the broader scales
measuring attitudes related to food choice in general or have focused on general
nutrition and well-being (Axelson & Peneld, 1983; Steptoe et al., 1995). The General
health interest scale developed in the present study contains similar aspects, but also
items on low-fat foods and on the association between diet and cholesterol, which
a previous study (Roininen et al., Note 1) has been found to be relevant for healthy
eating in Finland.
The Light product interest characterizes the importance of eating light foods
for maintaining good health and appearance. Health authorities in Western nations
have recommended a reduction in fat in the typical diet, due to the associations
between fat intake and several chronic diseases (Anonymous, 1994; Truswell, 1987).
The health-seeking tendency among consumers has led to a growing number of
reduced-fat foods on the market and has also inuenced peoples attitudes toward
reduced-fat foods. People tend to think of low-fat foods as healthier and more
positive alternatives than full-fat foods (Staeu et al., 1994) but they also consider
low-fat foods as less palatable than full-fat ones (Tuorila et al., 1994). Often, however,
when these foods are tasted, no notable dierences are found (Guinard & Marty,
1996). In spite of the growing interest in developing and consuming light products,
specic scales for measuring consumer attitudes regarding the consumption of light
products and the health eects of light products have not been available. The Food
Choice Questionnaire developed by Steptoe et al. (1995) has a 3-item weight-control
factor that related to eating low-fat and low-calorie foods for controlling weight.
The Light product interest scale developed in the present study focuses on both
82 K. ROININEN ET AL.
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7
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General health interest
H
e
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f
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5
6
4
3
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F
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Ficir 3. The healthfulness of eight foods as rated by respondents with low, moderate
and high scores on the Health subscales indicating (a) General health interest, (b) Light product
interest and (c) Natural product interest. Dierences in consumer responses to the subscales
are associated with dierences in the reported healthfulness of foods (meanSEM).
a,b,c,
Signicant dierences, p<005. , low; , moderate; , high.
83 QUANTIFICATION OF CONSUMER ATTITUDES
7
1
R
e
d
u
c
e
d
-
f
a
t
c
h
e
e
s
e
Pleasure
P
l
e
a
s
a
n
t
n
e
s
s
5
6
4
3
2
F
u
l
l
-
f
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t
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h
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e
s
e
N
o
n
-
f
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m
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k
F
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Using food as a reward
P
l
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5
6
4
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P
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c
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b
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b
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ab
b
a
b
c
(b)
(a)
Ficir 4. The pleasantness of eight foods as rated by respondents scoring low, moderate
and high on the Taste subscales for (a) Craving for sweet foods, (b) Using food as a reward
and (c) Pleasure. Dierences in consumer responses to the subscales are associated with
dierences in the reported pleasantness of foods (meanSEM).
a,b,c,
Signicant dierences,
p<005. , low; , moderate; , high.
84 K. ROININEN ET AL.
4
0
Craving for
sweet foods
N
u
m
b
e
r

o
f

"
p
l
e
a
s
a
n
t

n
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c
h
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s
3
2
1
Using food as a
reward
Pleasure
a
a
b
a
ab
b
(b)
4
0
General health
interest
N
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m
b
e
r

o
f

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h
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c
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s
3
2
1
Light product
interest
Natural product
interest
a
b
c
a
b
c
a
a
b
(a)
Ficir 5. (a) Healthfulnot pleasant choices by respondents with low, moderate and
high scores on the Health attitude subscales, and (b) Pleasantnot healthful choices by
respondents with low, moderate or high scores on the Taste attitude subscales (meanSEM).
Dierences in consumer responses on the subscales are associated with dierences in reported
behaviour.
a,b,c,
Signicant dierences, p<005. , low; , moderate; , high.
keeping the body in good shape and preventing chronic diseases by eating light
products.
Natural product interest considers the importance of eating organic foods and
foods that are not processed or do not contain additives. A strong correlation was
found between the Natural product interest and General health interest (r=049),
which is in line with results reported by Steptoe et al. (1995) who found strong
correlations between their natural content and health scales (r=059). Although
there is an association between the General health interest and the Natural product
interest scales, the items loaded on distinct factors, suggesting that consumers do
not think of food additives (which were targets of two items on the Natural product
interest scale) as protecting food quality and safety. Rather, they are considered as
a disadvantage for health, whereas vitamins and minerals are seen as essential for
good health.
Craving has been dened as an intense desire or longing for a particular substance
(Weingarten & Elston, 1990). In the qualitative study (Roininen et al., Note 1)
craving did not come out as a distinct dimension; however, craving was included as
a component of the Taste scale because craving has been described as one of the
85 QUANTIFICATION OF CONSUMER ATTITUDES
most common and intense experiences related to eating (Weingarten & Elston, 1990).
Chocolate craving was selected as one of the target behaviours because chocolate
has been found to be the most craved food among females (Rodin et al., 1991;
Weingarten & Elston, 1991); in addition, a chocolate craving is mainly considered
to be independent of a craving for sweets (Rozin et al., 1991). However, in the
present study, craving of chocolate, ice-cream and sweets appeared to correlate and
thus were a basis for the construction of the Craving for sweet foods scale. In the
original questionnaire, there were items on craving for salty foods, e.g. pizza and
hamburgers, but these items were discarded because they did not load on a single
factor, thus suggesting that salty and sweet food cravings are not necessarily
experienced by a single individual.
Using food as a reward correlated negatively with General health interest and
Light product interest, and positively with Craving for sweet foods. These results
indicate that healthful and light foods are not used for rewarding and comforting
oneself; rather, foods that are craved are used for this purpose. The Pleasure subscale
contains items relating to the importance of the sensory appeal of foods and the
importance of getting pleasure from eating. Rappaport et al. (1992) found that
health and pleasure were unrelated. This nding was conrmed in the present study,
in which Pleasure and General health interest subscales were not correlated, suggesting
that an individuals health orientation is not related to his/her attention to taste.
Demographic Inuences
A gender eect was found on the Health and Taste subscales. Females were more
interested than males in eating healthily. This nding is in agreement with the results
of Steptoe and Wardle (1992), in which female respondents from contrasting regions
of Europe showed healthier behaviour patterns than males. Similarly, in the
European Health and Behaviour Survey, Wardle and Steptoe (1991) found that, in
the British sample, females were more likely than males to maintain healthy dietary
habits. Males had healthier lifestyles than females only in terms of physical exercise.
Signicant gender dierences in dietary health beliefs were found among European
students, with males being more sceptical about the health benets of certain dietary
practices (e.g. avoiding animal fat, eating ber, eating fruit, avoiding sugar, avoiding
salt) than females (Wardle et al., 1997).
Consistent with earlier ndings, females were also more interested in eating light
products. In a study of adolescents eating behaviour, Wardle et al. (1992), found
that girls rated slimming foods as better for them than did boys. The gender
dierences in Light product interest is also in agreement with the results of Shepherd
and Stockley (1985) and Towler and Shepherd (1992), who found that females have
more negative attitudes toward high-fat foods than do males. The results also agree
with the ndings of Staeu et al. (1994), whose results indicate that females have
more positive attitudes than males toward low-fat foods.
In spite of their interest in eating healthily, females in this study, as compared
to males, appear to crave sweet foods more and are more interested in getting
pleasure from eating. However, males rated pleasure as the highest of all factors;
thus this is in agreement with the results of Sclafer (1978), whose male subjects rated
taste as the most important factor aecting their food choice. However, Einstein
and Hornstein (1970) found that, compared with females, males gave more dont
know responses when rating food preferences, which possibly indicates low interest
86 K. ROININEN ET AL.
in taste. Pelchat (1997) found that women and young subjects were more likely than
males and elderly subjects to report at least one craving. This is in agreement with
our results that show females and younger respondents as higher in craving for sweet
foods. Surprisingly, Using food as a reward was the only subscale in which no
dierence was found between genders, suggesting that females and males have equally
strong tendencies to use food to reward themselves.
Older respondents were, generally, more interested than younger respondents in
healthy dietary practices and in using natural products. This nding is consistent
with the results of Steptoe et al. (1995), in which a signicant positive correlation
was found between age and an interest in using foods that contain natural ingredients
and do not contain additives. Contento and Murphy (1990) found that older and
female participants were more likely to make desirable changes in their diets than
were younger participants and males. Hayes and Ross (1987) found that older
respondents and women were signicantly more likely to have good eating habits
than were younger respondents and men.
The Preliminary Test of Predictive Validity of the Health and Taste Scales
Despite the fact that the choices were reported intentions rather than actual
choices and that the narrow range of foods used in choice tasks may have limited
their reliability and validity in predicting behaviour, however this preliminary test
of predictive validity shows promising results, and further studies have tested the
predictive validity of the scales in real behavioural situations using actual food
choices (Roininen & Tuorila, 1999). Our subjects did not have very strong attitudes
toward food. However, according to Rozin et al. (Note 2) there are signicant
cultural dierences in the concern for healthiness of food habits and importance of
obtaining pleasure from eating. In their cross-cultural study Americans, French,
Japanese and Belgian college students and adults lled out questionnaires concerning
diet-health beliefs and the importance of obtaining pleasure from eating. They found
that, in general, the French and Belgians were the most pleasure oriented and
Americans the most health oriented. The Japanese were in-between these orientations.
The scales developed in the present study are currently being tested in three countries
(the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland). The results will show to what
extent the dimensions observed here and the paper and pencil choice will hold
true in a cross-national context. It will also be interesting to see whether these
countries dier in the level of pleasure and health orientations.
On the Health scale, respondents who were high on General health interest, Light
product interest and Natural product interest also made more healthfulnot pleasant
food choices than those who were moderate or low on these scales, indicating that
consumers who are more health-oriented are also willing to accept some loss in
pleasantness if they consider the food as healthfulnot pleasant. This is in line
with the results of Hayes and Ross (1987), who identied concern with appearance
and concern with health as types of motivation that underlie healthy eating habits. The
data also support the results of Wardle (1993) in which intra-individual correlations
between consumption frequency and health ratings across foods (health food index)
were positively related to fruit consumption, and negatively related to fat con-
sumption. Respondents who were high on Craving for sweet foods, and on Using
food as a reward made more pleasantnot healthful food choices than other
respondents. This latter nding suggests that respondents who are high on Craving
87 QUANTIFICATION OF CONSUMER ATTITUDES
for sweet foods and on Using food as a reward consider full-fat foods more pleasant
than reduced-fat foods and that they also use these foods for satisfying food cravings
and as rewards. No eect of pleasure was found on pleasantnot healthful food
choices. The reason may be that the method for measuring single food choices does
not correspond to the items of the Pleasure scale, which concentrate more the general
importance of getting pleasure from eating.
In conclusion, all Health subscale healthfulnot pleasant food choices, and all
other Taste subscales except for the pleasure subscale were good predictors of the
pleasantnot healthful food choices. Thus these preliminary results of predictive
validity are promising. Further studies will show how these results will hold true in
dierent situations and how the scales dierentiate among subjects in dierent
countries.
RrrrrNcr No1rs
1. Roininen, K., Lahteenmaki, L. & Tuorila, H. Application of laddering technique
to measure consumers, orientation to health and hedonic characteristics of foods.
Manuscript.
2. Rozin, P., Fischler, C., Imada, S., Sarubin, A. & Wrzesniewski, A. Attitudes to
food and the role of food in life in four countries: possible implications for diet-
health debate. Manuscript.
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Received 28 May 1998, revision 10 August 1998, accepted in revised form 26 January 1999