Search

Purpose: This study aims to examine consumers' preferences among four calorie-reducing approaches – resizing, reformulation, substitution and elimination – and to understand what motivates consumers to order low-calorie food using the theory of planned behavior (TPB) as a model. Design/methodology/approach: A conceptual model was developed based on the TPB with an additional construct of food choice motives. A total of 467 responses were collected. Descriptive statistics, multiple regression and ANOVA were used in the data analysis. Findings: Consumers have a clear preference for substitution and elimination. The pattern that ingredients with higher calories were modified at a higher priority indicated that consumers might improve food decisions based on calorie information. Practical implications: Restaurants should allow substitution or elimination of certain ingredients from menu items. Including more low-calorie sides will cost restaurants less than changing the main dish. A menu item on an entrée form is more amenable to modification for decreased calorie content as consumers have high taste expectations for popular traditional foods (e.g. burgers and pizza). Originality/value: This is the first study to investigate consumers' preferences among the four popular calorie-reducing approaches. A novel "Build Your Own Meal" approach was used in the questionnaire to allow the participants to choose from more than 150 ingredients, which compensated for personal preferences, thus mitigating possible limitations associated with studies of this kind, and was a good indicator of the participants' actual ordering behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With consumers becoming increasingly health conscious, the demand for reduced calorie food has significantly increased over the years. However, the definition of low-calorie food remains unclear. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate consumers' perception of reduced calorie meals, from the perspective of the maximum calorie level that consumers would consider as "low-calorie." Survey data were collected using MTurk. In addition to respondents' perception of the calorie count of low-calorie food when eating out and eating at home, respondents' attitude toward low-calorie food, behaviors about consuming low-calorie food and exercise frequency, and demographic information were also assessed in the survey. The results demonstrate that consumers' calorie perception of low-calorie food served in restaurants is consistent among different types of restaurants. Moreover, consumers believe that a low-calorie meal served in restaurants should be under 367 calories for breakfast, 500 calories for lunch, and 677 calories for dinner. Lastly, consumers perceive home-cooked meals to be lower in calories than restaurant food. This study is the first attempt to explore consumers' definition of a low-calorie meal served in restaurants. The findings will provide guidance to restaurant operators in designing menus, and help policymakers better understand the ongoing need to develop a sound and comprehensive definition for the term "low-calorie." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing popularity of social media has prompted the need to examine the effects of social media comments on consumers’ responses to food safety information. By adopting and extending a dual-process model, this study assessed the effect of source credibility, the content of comments, and relationship quality on consumer responses to social media comments using a scenario-based survey. The results showed a significant interaction effect between source credibility and content of comments; while negative comments induced negative responses regardless of source credibility, positive, or mixed comments led to less negative responses when the source was highly credible than when the source was less credible. The insignificant effect of relationship quality signified a stronger influence of the information itself compared to the influence of the relationship quality with the person delivering information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent popularity of home delivery meal kits (HMK) has prompted concerns about its integrity and safety. On the basis of a food safety-related information evaluation of the common US-based HMK vendors' websites, this perspective highlights opportunities for improvement with the adequacy and accessibility of relevant information on HMK websites, an important resource for communicating food safety best practices to consumers. Identified gaps in information and inadequate delivery protocols potentially increase the risk of offering unsafe food to consumers. Suggestions for future research and recommendations for vendors, policymakers, and regulators to help protect consumers from potential foodborne illness risks are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]