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Purpose: To understand factors affecting adherence to GFD by celiac and non-celiac people through the application of behavioural theories, Integrative Model (IM) and Multi Theory Model (MTM). Methods: Analyses were conducted for a sample of 308 subjects, majority females, celiac and non-celiac. Adherence to GFD was measured considering two scales, self-declared adherence and scored adherence, in order to discern possible inconsistencies between what subjects believe and what they really do. Subsequently, adherence to GFD was modelled by considering constructs of MTM and IM. Moreover, the constructs were designed based on literature review. Ordered logit (OL) model was used to test the IM and MTM theoretical models. Results: The findings show that adherence to GFD is affected mainly by attitudes towards GFD, self-efficacy, injunctive norms, knowledge about GFD and perceptions that GF products are expensive. Between the two models, IM and MTM, results show that all constructs of IM explain the behavior. Contrary, for MTM, results indicate only some constructs of the MTM explain adherence to GFD. Conclusions: Results of this study should be considered for improving the adherence to GFD for celiac people. Furthermore, it is important to consider the non-celiac people’s perceptions for GFD and GF products. In other words an accurate information about the diet and products it is relevant for supporting people to make healthier food choices. Finally, as the results show, IM explain adherence to GFD better than MTM.

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link. Perceived social norms refer to beliefs that people hold about what other people do (descriptive norms) and approve of (injunctive norms), and are associated with food intake. However, less is known about whether perceived social norms are associated with meat and plant-based meal intake. Using a cross-sectional survey design 136 participants (aged 19-66 years, mean age=39.63, SD=12.85 years, mean BMI=25.77, SD=5.30, 80.9% female, 77.9% omnivores, 22.1% flexitarians) answered questions about how frequently they consumed meat and plant-based meals, and how frequently they perceived people in their social environment to consume (perceived descriptive norms), and approve of consuming (perceived injunctive norms) meat and plant-based meals. Perceived descriptive and injunctive norms were positively associated with participants’ frequency of meat intake: participants ate meat more frequently when they perceived their significant other to frequently eat meat (descriptive norm), and when they perceived their significant other and friends to approve of (injunctive norm) frequently eating meat. Perceived descriptive norms were positively associated, but injunctive norms were negatively associated with participants’ frequency of plant-based meal intake: participants ate plant-based meals more frequently when they perceived their extended family, friends, and significant other to frequently eat plant-based meals. However, participants ate plant-based meals more frequently when they perceived their extended family to approve of less frequent plant-based meal intake. These results suggest that different social groups may be important for meat and plant-based meal intake, with significant others and friends appearing to be important reference points for both food types. Further research examining the contexts in which the different social groups influence eating behaviour would be of value.

Through meat-eating choices, people are able to express their national social identification and adhere to broader cultural norms. The current research examines the relationship between people's perceptions of national descriptive and injunctive meat-eating norms and their national social identification, on the one hand, and their attitudes toward meat-eating and their intentions to eat meat, on the other hand. In a sample that includes American, British, and Australian participants, we observe that: (1) favorable attitudes toward meat eating are positively predicted by national injunctive but not descriptive norms, and (2) intentions to eat meat are positively predicted by national descriptive but not injunctive norms. National social identification positively predicts both attitudes and intentions. Intentions to eat meat were also predicted by a three-way interaction between descriptive and injunctive norms, and social identification. Alignment of relatively high descriptive and injunctive meat-eating norms predicted meat-eating intentions more than alignment of relatively low descriptive and injunctive norms. With normative misalignment, however, people began to rely on their national social identifications as a basis for meat-eating intentions. The data are discussed with reference to the impact of social factors in influencing meat consumption. Moreover, we consider the potential for national social identification to have a normative component of meat consumption independent of descriptive and injunctive norms. This work advances our understanding of meat consumption by revealing national-level normative and identity processes beyond more focused identities of, for example, an environmentalist, a health conscious person, or an animal rights activist.

Approximately one quarter of the food supplied for human consumption is wasted across the food supply chain. In the high income countries, the food waste generated at the household level represents about half of the total food waste, making this level one of the biggest contributors to food waste. Yet, there is still little evidence regarding the determinants of consumers' food waste behaviour. The present study examines the effect of psycho-social factors, food-related routines, household perceived capabilities and socio-demographic characteristics on self-reported food waste. Survey data gathered among 1062 Danish respondents measured consumers' intentions not to waste food, planning, shopping and reuse of leftovers routines, perceived capability to deal with household food-related activities, injunctive and moral norms, attitudes towards food waste, and perceived behavioural control. Results show that perceived behavioural control and routines related to shopping and reuse of leftovers are the main drivers of food waste, while planning routines contribute indirectly. In turn, the routines are related to consumers' perceived capabilities to deal with household related activities. With regard to intentional processes, injunctive norms and attitudes towards food waste have an impact while moral norms and perceived behavioural control make no significant contribution. Implications of the study for initiatives aimed at changing consumers' food waste behaviour are discussed.

This exploratory qualitative study examined the influence of injunctive and descriptive norms on breastfeeding, a health-improving behaviour related to a highly committed personal decision. The research explores the different mechanisms through which social norms impact breastfeeding behaviour pre or post-adoption of breastfeeding practice. A qualitative approach was used by performing in-depth analysis of cross-sectional accounts of women in Lebanon contemplating adoption of breastfeeding practice and women who already breastfed. Interviews were also conducted with medical professionals, lactation specialists, and breastfeeding activists. On one hand, the attitude of the medical professionals and the government efforts are two mechanisms that stimulate the injunctive norms. On the other hand, the descriptive norms are defined by community attitude aggregated with societal beliefs and expectations on women's image and role in society. Both types of social norms are in constant interplay with personal norms and each type becomes more salient at different periods over time. The findings suggest that social norms are major determinants of breastfeeding behaviour. The influence of the type of social norm-descriptive or injunctive-on the decision to breastfeed varies according to the moment of life the mother is living. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Introduction: Serious health complications associated with excessive weight have been documented for pregnant women and their babies during pregnancy, birth and beyond. Whilst research has focused on identifying particular foods that can be either detrimental or essential for the developing baby, pregnant women's food choices are likely determined by broader considerations. This study examined social influences as represented in reports of descriptive and injunctive social norms related to healthy eating during pregnancy, and individual differences in mindfulness while eating, as important potential correlates of pregnant women's self-reported diet. Methods: Pregnant women (N = 139) completed a questionnaire that measured self-reported consumption of healthy and unhealthy foods, descriptive and injunctive norms related to healthy eating during pregnancy and the Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ). Hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted to assess the extent to which norms and mindful eating accounted for variance in consumption of both foods. Results: No significant associations were observed between perceived social norms related to diet during pregnancy and self-reported dietary behaviour. Mindful eating was found to play a role in pregnant women's eating behaviour, with the awareness subscale of the MEQ significantly associated with healthy eating and the emotional subscale associated with unhealthy eating. Age was also associated with consumption of unhealthy foods; younger pregnant women reported consuming more unhealthy snacks and fast food meals. Conclusions: The associations between mindful eating and dietary behaviour suggests that improving mindfulness related to food consumption before and during pregnancy may provide a strategy to address excessive gestational weight gain. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

We hypothesized that adolescents misperceive social norms for food consumption, and aimed to test this, and examine associations between perceived norms and dietary behaviours. School pupils (n=264) in the UK, aged 16-19 years, completed a questionnaire about their own attitudes to, and intake of, fruits and vegetables, unhealthy snacks and sugar-sweetened drinks, and their perceptions of their peers' attitudes to (injunctive norms), and intake of (descriptive norms), the same foods. Misperceptions were calculated from differences between perceived norms and median self-reports of peer groups. Respondents overestimated their peers' intake of snacks by 1.8 portions a week, and sugar-sweetened drinks by 5.2 portions, and overestimated how positive their peers' attitudes were towards these behaviours. They underestimated their peers' consumption of fruits and vegetables by 3.2 portions per week and how positive their peers' attitudes were towards fruit and vegetables. Descriptive norms were strongly associated with intake of fruit and vegetables, sugar-sweetened drinks, and unhealthy snacks, explaining between 17% and 22% of the variance in consumption. There was no association between injunctive norms and intake. Descriptive norms indicated that misperceptions of peers' food intake were associated with respondents' own intake. Interventions to correct misperceptions have the potential to improve adolescents' diets.

The purpose of this study is to apply the conceptual framework of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to explain the consumption of a common food (fish) in Vietnam. We seek to understand the role of norms in explaining intention to consume, and descriptive norms is included as extensions of traditional constructs such as attitude, social norms, and perceived behavioral control. The data were derived from a cross-sectional sample of 612 consumers. Structural equation modeling was applied to test the relationships between constructs, and evaluate the reliability and the validity of the constructs. The results indicate that the models fit well with the data. Attitude, social norms, descriptive norms and behavioral control all had significantly positive effect on behavioral intention. Finally, both intention and perceived behavioral control were highly associated with the frequency of consumption of the common food investigated.

Social norms are implicit codes of conduct that provide a guide to appropriate action. There is ample evidence that social norms about eating have a powerful effect on both food choice and amounts consumed. This review explores the reasons why people follow social eating norms and the factors that moderate norm following. It is proposed that eating norms are followed because they provide information about safe foods and facilitate food sharing. Norms are a powerful influence on behaviour because following (or not following) norms is associated with social judgements. Norm following is more likely when there is uncertainty about what constitutes correct behaviour and when there is greater shared identity with the norm referent group. Social norms may affect food choice and intake by altering self-perceptions and/or by altering the sensory/hedonic evaluation of foods. The same neural systems that mediate the rewarding effects of food itself are likely to reinforce the following of eating norms.

The behavior of others in people’s social environment (i.e., descriptive norms), as well as their opinions regarding appropriate actions (i.e., injunctive norms) strongly influence people’s decisions and actions. The goal of this study was to extend prior laboratory research on the influence of social norms on food choices, by conducting a field-experiment in an on-campus food court. One of three different messages was posted on a given day: a healthy descriptive norm, healthy injunctive norm, or an unhealthy descriptive norm. Effects of these social norms messages on food choice were compared against each other and a no-message control condition. In total, 687 students reported their food choice through a questionnaire provided to them. Food choices were analyzed for participants who reported being exposed to one of the social norms signs and those in the control condition (N=220). Findings showed that the healthy descriptive norm resulted in more healthy food choices, compared to an unhealthy descriptive norm, as well as the control condition. The difference between the injunctive healthy norm and the control condition was not significant, though those in the injunctive norm condition did make more healthy decisions, than those in the unhealthy descriptive norm condition. Implications with regard to theory and practice are discussed.

Aims: This study aims to explore associations of attitudes towards breakfast, self-efficacy and normative perceptions (in relation to parents, peers and teachers) with breakfastskipping in 9–11-year-oldschoolchildren in Wales. Methods: A cross-sectional design was employed. Data were collected using self-report measures of attitudes towards breakfast, parental and peer descriptive norms, parental, peer and teacher related injunctive norms, self-efficacy for eating breakfast and self-reported habitual breakfastskipping. Participants were 1672 year 5 and 6 pupils within 52 schools in 9 local education authorities across North, South and West Wales. Results: Bivariate analyses indicated that all variables, with the exception of peer-related injunctive norms, were associated with breakfastskipping. In multivariate ordinal logistic regression analyses, adjusted for clustering at the school-level, only attitudes towards breakfast, parental descriptive norms and self-efficacy for eating breakfast were significantly associated with breakfastskipping. Conclusions: The associations reported in this paper highlight the need to consider attitudinal and normative factors when attempting to facilitate change in children's breakfast eating behaviours, as well as investigating means of enhancing self-efficacy. Impacts of school breakfast provision on these factors, as well as the impact of these factors on uptake of school breakfast provision merit investigation.

Social norms influence food choice and intake and could be exploited to promote healthier eating. Here we test the effect of two types of social norm messages on consumption of fruit and vegetables (FV) in low and high consumers of fruit and vegetables. Young adults (n = 75) read a poster that either (1) stated that other young adults regularly eat FV (descriptive social norm) or (2) stated that other young adults approve of regularly eating FV (injunctive social norm) or (3) outlined the health benefits of eating FV (control condition). Shortly after reading the poster participants were offered a snack including FV. Choice and intake were measured covertly. In habitually low consumers of FV, fruit and vegetable selection and intake was higher after reading a descriptive norm poster than after reading about the health benefits of eating FV. However, participants viewing an injunctive norm poster ate a similar amount of FV as the participants in the health control condition. No effect of message type was observed in habitually high consumers of FV with habitual high consumers in all conditions selecting and eating a large amount of FV. These findings indicate that social norm messages emphasising behavioural norms may have more potential than injunctive norms in encouraging healthier eating. They further suggest that social normative information may not bring about behavioural change due to social approval concerns.

Social norms have been shown to influence food intake. Although social norms approaches have been adopted to reduce binge drinking, whether social normative information could be used to encourage ‘healthier’ food choices has not been examined. The present study investigated whether exposing participants to social norm messages about vegetable consumption increases choice and intake of vegetables as part of a meal. Sixty undergraduate students participated and were assigned to a social norms condition or a control condition. Dependent on condition, prior to selection of lunch from a buffet, participants were exposed to posters and flyers relating to social norms information about vegetables (‘students eat more vegetables than you’d think, the average student eats 3 portions of vegetables a day’) or health information about vegetables (‘eating vegetables is good for your health, eating 3 portions of vegetables a day protects against heart disease’). Cover stories were used to ensure participants were unaware the information exposure and food choice activities were related. Measures of habitual vegetable intake, BMI and restraint were taken after consumption of the lunch time meal. In habitually low consumers of vegetables, exposure to social norms information increased amount of vegetables consumed, compared to the control condition. In habitually high consumers of vegetables, no effect on vegetable intake was observed. These findings suggest a social norms approach to encourage ‘healthy’ food choices warrants further investigation.

Descriptive norms describe the typical or normal thing to do in a certain situation. Research has shown that descriptive norms influence health behavioural intentions, but the effects on actual behaviour are less clear. Moreover, the effects of minority norms (e.g. ‘only few people use sunscreen’) on behaviour are under researched. The current study investigates the influence of descriptive social majority and minority norms on fruit consumption using experimental designs. Students received minority or majority norm information regarding a referent group’s behaviour and reported intended (Study 1, n = 102) or actual (Study 2, n = 119) fruit intake. Strength of identification with the referent group was measured (Study 1) or manipulated (Study 2). Results showed that when identification with the referent group was high, minority norms had a strong negative effect on both intended and actual fruit intake compared to majority norms (difference of 0.60 portions daily). Moreover, compared to a no-norm control condition, minority norm participants ate 0.30 portions of fruit less daily, and majority norm participants 0.30 portions more. These results show that both majority and minority social norms influence intended and actual fruit intake. Moreover, given that minority norms are often communicated to the public, the current studies’ indication that minority norms may lead to ironic and unwanted behavioural effects suggests that these ‘normative facts’ must be communicated carefully.

Highlights • Red and green labels have no significant effect on snack perceptions and choice. • Emoticon labels implying injunctive norms affect perceptions of health and taste. • Frowning emoticons may be more potent than smiling emoticons for certain foods., Recent studies report that using green labels to denote healthier foods, and red to denote less healthy foods increases consumption of green- and decreases consumption of red-labelled foods. Other symbols (e.g. emoticons conveying normative approval and disapproval) could also be used to signal the healthiness and/or acceptability of consuming such products. The present study tested the combined effects of using emoticons and colours on labels amongst a nationally representative sample of the UK population (n = 955). In a 3 (emoticon expression: smiling vs. frowning vs. no emoticon) × 3 (colour label: green vs. red vs. white) ×2 (food option: chocolate bar vs. cereal bar) between-subjects experiment, participants rated the level of desirability, healthiness, tastiness, and calorific content of a snack bar they had been randomised to view. At the end they were further randomised to view one of nine possible combinations of colour and emoticon labels and asked to choose between a chocolate and a cereal bar. Regardless of label, participants rated the chocolate as tastier and more desirable when compared to the cereal bar, and the cereal bar as healthier than the chocolate bar. A series of interactions revealed that a frowning emoticon on a white background decreased perceptions of healthiness and tastiness of the cereal bar, but not the chocolate bar. In the explicit choice task selection was unaffected by label. Overall nutritional labels had limited effects on perceptions and no effects on choice of snack foods. Emoticon labels yielded stronger effects on perceptions of taste and healthiness of snacks than colour labels. Frowning emoticons may be more potent than smiling emoticons at influencing the perceived healthiness and tastiness of foods carrying health halos.