There is a tendency towards greater expectations of consumer goods and services in society—what was once judged as ideal may now be a bare minimum. This presents a challenge for food providers in the upcoming decades. As the more demanding baby boomer cohort ages, health institutions of the future will face challenges meeting their food expectations. The purpose of this study was to explore expectation type dynamics and function with updated empirical material on aging consumers expectations of institutional food and advance our current understanding of how consumers evaluate their expectations. This qualitative study employed in-depth semi structured interviews with 14 informants between the age of 58–79. Content analysis was performed to capture the informants’ food expectations based on the expectation hierarchy proposed by Santos and Boote. Analyzing the content and relationship between different expectation types led to three main findings: expectation functions and content, interconnectedness, and the role of affect. Based on the findings, this study contributes by making several propositions for future research and proposes an updated expectancy–disconfirmation model. Importantly, this study provides novel knowledge that can help health institutions understand and meet aging consumers expectations of institutional food.

PurposeSocieties are experiencing a rapidly ageing population, which puts pressure on health services and institutions for the elderly. Ageing baby boomers have unique characteristics compared to previous generations, yet very little is known about these consumers' expectations of institutional food. The importance and issues with institutional food are well-recognized, and new approaches to improving institutional food offerings are warranted. The purpose of this study was to identify various segments of ageing consumers based on individual characteristics (entitlement, subjective food knowledge, disconfirmation sensitivity and age) and investigate differences in expectations between the groups.Design/methodology/approachData were collected using a cross-sectional survey (n = 300) of ageing consumers (50–80 years old). A two-step cluster analysis was used to identify meaningful clusters.FindingsA four-cluster solution was reached, with clusters (1) “Uninvolved oldies”, (2) “Humble old foodies”, (3) “Entitled youngsters” and (4) “Food experts”. This study found significant differences in expectations of institutional food between the clusters.Practical implicationsRecommendations for public policy implications for each segment are provided. This study contributes to preparing healthcare services and institutions to meet the institutional food expectations of various types of ageing consumers.Originality/valueThis paper measures ageing consumers' normative expectations of institutional food and concludes that expectations of food quality, freedom of choice, servicescape and sustainability differ by segments of ageing consumers.

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