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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- An international study of people's food preferences reveals the image we give foods may play into our decision to eat them or not. This information is shedding light on possible strategies to promote healthier eating habits.
The study authors say we identify foods with particular values or images, and our decision to consume those items depends on our personal value preferences. Meat, for example, is associated with social power and strength, while name brand cola symbolizes an exciting life, recognition and social power.
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Before testing, study participants were asked to complete a questionnaire regarding their value preferences. Participants were then told they were being given a beef sausage roll or a vegetarian alternative roll, then a name brand cola or a generic cola. Some received the item they were told they would receive, while others were given the similar-tasting item.
"What influenced taste evaluation was what they thought they had eaten and whether that food symbolized values that they personally supported," rather than the taste and aroma, study authors concluded. "Strategies that might persuade heavy meat eaters to change their diet include changing the cultural associations of fruits and vegetables to encompass values that meat eaters endorse (e.g., power and strength), or challenging heavy meat eaters' assumptions about what tastes good by using in-store (blind) taste tests or showing them results of studies such as this one."
SOURCE: Journal of Consumer Research, August 2008
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