Relationship between types of food choice motives and well‐being among young and middle‐aged Chinese adults

Abstract

Food choice plays a vital role in people’s lives and well‐being, and this topic has received more research attention in recent years. The aims of the present research were to identify subgroups of participants who shared similar profiles of multiple motives for food choices, and examine differences across motive types on the well‐being of young and middle‐aged Chinese adults. Participants were 627 Chinese adults aged 18–58 years who completed questionnaire measures. The results of Latent Profile Analysis showed that based on the configurations among different motives for food choice, there were five profiles of food choice motives, corresponding to five types of Chinese adult consumers: unconcerned, mood oriented, weight control oriented, food enthusiast and health oriented. The food enthusiast consumers were more likely to include young adults with high‐income level and educational level, while the unconcerned consumers had a larger share of middle‐aged adults with low income. Results of ANOVA suggested that the types of food choice motives significantly predicted individuals’ well‐being. Specifically, the food enthusiast group had the highest level of well‐being, while the unconcerned group had the lowest level of well‐being. The other three groups had moderate levels of well‐being. The current study is the first to explore the potential influence of food choice motives on well‐being using a person‐centred approach, and the results have practical implications for public health authorities in developing effective interventions, for food companies in tailoring marketing campaigns and for individuals in optimizing food choices.

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“…Because food choice plays a relevant role in people's lives and well‐being and this topic has received more research attention in recent years (Gong et al., 2020), this paper tries to understand consumer reactions to new low‐fat food products to help the R&D departments that develop this kind of foods to reduce the risks to launch a new product to the market. Specially, and because consumers not always feel that they say, this paper analysis two orientation responses (cardiac reactions and electromyographical reactions) to two different types of low‐fat products with a healthy claim 0%: a healthy product (juice) and an unhealthy product (sweets).…”

Some like it tailor‐made: The effectiveness of personalized coupons for lower‐calorie food choices at a university canteen

“…A segmentation based on consumer's nutritional perceptions and food motives such as Gong et al. (2020)’s approach could help address consumer heterogeneity and enhance the targeting ability of pricing strategies for healthy food. The promotional cues should be attractive enough to not only attract convenience‐oriented and calorie‐conscious consumers but also override consumers’ resistance to change and induce them to break their existing habits.…”

Consumers’ Motives for Eating and Choosing Sweet Baked Products: A Cross-Cultural Segmentation Study

“…The findings from this paper are useful and provide meaningful information and suggestions for consumer scientists, food communities, health administrators, and the food industry to promote healthy food choices and educate consumers about healthy food alternatives [49]. However, more data on ultra-processed food choices should be collected from South Africa and Switzerland in order to develop a sustainable platform to inform consumers in their local food environments how to make healthier food choice decisions that will support their wellbeing.…”