Introduction to Consumer Food Choices

This introductory chapter provides an overview of prevalent stimulus-organism-response models that are used to describe and predict consumer food choices. Early choice models relied on the assumption that food choices were rational and therefore largely disregarded nonrational factors such as situational, environmental, and individual differences. The Engel-Blackwell-Miniard model, the Total Food Quality Model, as well as research challenges and the powerful influences of nonrational factors are discussed in more detail. The clean label trend indicates that consumers have become increasingly interested in product credence attributes such as ingredient origins and production methods. These developments pose challenges for producers as well as marketers and alter the parameters of consumer food choices.