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Dieting, priming, food meanings and (un)healthy choices: When shoppers fall for pleasure

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  • Luomala, Harri T.
  • Hellén, Katarina
  • Jokitalo, Maijastiina

Abstract

This article seeks to establish what factors predispose some consumers to non-consciously fall for palatable food choices. To achieve this, 1) a qualitative exploration of food meanings possessed by (non)dieting consumers (N =20) and 2) a grocery shopping-prime experiment (N =197) are conducted. Dieting consumers appear to have a more hedonic food-orientation, feel guiltier towards eating, struggle more with resistance of temptation, express less skepticism towards marketing actions, possess a narrower health control focus and appreciate less the role of food in life happiness. Thus, they are more easily prey to many implicit food cues in supermarkets.

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  • Luomala, Harri T. & Hellén, Katarina & Jokitalo, Maijastiina, 2018. "Dieting, priming, food meanings and (un)healthy choices: When shoppers fall for pleasure," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 305-311.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:41:y:2018:i:c:p:305-311
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2017.05.001
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