In order for food businesses, scientists and policy makers to develop successful products, services and policies, it is essential that they understand food consumers and how they decide which products to buy. Food consumer behavior is the result of various factors, including the motivations of different consumers, the attributes of specific foods, and the environment in which food choices occur. Recognising diversity between individual consumers, different stages of life, and different cultural context is increasingly important as markets become increasingly diverse and international. The book begins with a comprehensive introduction and analysis of the key drivers of consumer food choices, such as the environment and sensory product features. Part 2 examines the role of consumers' attitudes towards quality and marketing, and their views on food preparation and technology. Part 3 covers cultural and individual differences in food choice as well as addressing potential influential factors such as age and gender. Important topics such as public health and methods to change consumers' preferences for unhealthy foods are discussed in part 4. The final section concludes with advice on developing coherent safety policies and the consumers' responsibility for food production and consumption. Understanding consumers of food products will provide a standard reference for all those in the food industry concerned with product development and regulation. Professor Lynn Frewer and Professor Hans van Trijp both work at the Marketing and Consumer Behaviour Group of the highly regarded Wageningen University, The Netherlands, where Lynn Frewer holds the Chair of Food Safety and Consumer Behaviour and Hans van Trijp holds the Chair of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour.
Author(s): Lynn Frewer, Hans van Trijp
Edition: 1
Publisher: CRC Press
Year: 2007
Language: English
Pages: 696
Contents......Page 6
Contributor contact details......Page 16
Preface......Page 22
Part I Key influences on consumer food choice......Page 26
1 Food choice: an introduction......Page 28
2 Sensory influences on food choice and food intake......Page 55
3 The impact of context and environment on consumer food choice......Page 92
4 Theories of food choice development......Page 118
5 Perceptions of risk, benefit and trust associated with consumer food choice......Page 150
Part II Product attributes and consumer food choice......Page 176
6 Branding and labelling of food products......Page 178
7 How consumers perceive food quality......Page 206
8 Consumer attitudes towards convenience foods......Page 225
9 Outsourcing meal preparation......Page 246
10 Consumer attitudes to food innovation and technology......Page 261
11 Food consumers and organic agriculture......Page 279
Part III Diversity in consumer food choice: cultural and individual difference......Page 298
12 Life experience and demographic variables influencing food preferences: the case of the US......Page 300
13 Cross-cultural dimensions in food choice: Europe......Page 323
14 Gender differences in food choice......Page 341
15 Children and food choice......Page 354
16 Understanding Asian consumers of food products......Page 384
Part IV Consumers, food and health......Page 416
17 Liking, wanting and eating: drivers of food choice and intake in obesity......Page 418
18 Consumer attitudes towards functional foods......Page 437
19 The priorities of health and wellness shoppers around the globe......Page 453
20 Consumers, communication and food allergy......Page 468
21 Consumers of food products, domestic hygiene and public health......Page 488
22 Changing unhealthy food choices......Page 521
Part V Consumer attitude, food policy and practice......Page 534
23 Social factors and food choice: consumption as practice......Page 536
24 Developing a coherent European food safety policy: the challenge of valuebased conflicts to EU food safety governance......Page 559
25 Science, society and food policy......Page 583
26 Planned promotion of healthy eating to improve population health......Page 596
27 Public engagement in food policy......Page 617
28 Food, citizens, and market: the quest for responsible consuming......Page 635
29 The ethics of food production and consumption......Page 649
30 Looking to the future......Page 668
Index......Page 675
