The Assessment of Cognitive Food Consumption Experience

Abstract

The goal of this research is to explore the cognitive experience of food consumption and develop a scale that can differentiate the various factors that individuals focus on while consuming food. Individuals differ in several aspects of the food consumption experience. Some pay more attention to the sensory aspects of the food whereas others focus on the quantity of the food or their surroundings. Currently, there are no reliable and valid instruments that assess the cognitive experience of food consumption.In‐depth interviews with consumers highlighted that, during food consumption episodes, consumers pay attention to the sensory tasting experience of the food, quantity consumed, and the nutritional content of the food. Furthermore, self‐monitoring (expectations and norms set by others who are readily present) and trying to eat healthy seem to be crucial aspects of the experience. Finally, distracted (non‐food related) thinking also emerges as part of the cognitive experience during consumption.Next, a survey study tested the dimensions that emerged from the in‐depth interviews. A pool of items for each dimension (attention to 1) the sensory experience, 2) quantity of food consumed, 3) nutritional content of the food, 4) healthy eating, 5) self‐monitoring, and 6) non‐food related thinking) was developed by the authors. Then, four professionals working on food consumption behavior were asked to review item content and question wording and to indicate any criteria that they believed were not adequately assessed. In addition, several consumers reviewed the scale questions for relevance and clarity. After making revisions based on feedback from both professionals and consumers, the questions were administered as part of a larger study that required consumers to consume several snack items. The participants (N = 56) were 18 years or older students at a large university. Exploratory factor analysis confirmed the six dimensions that emerged from the in‐depth interviews.This study is a preliminary exploration of the factors that shape the cognitive experience of food consumption. Future studies will focus on convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity of the newly devised scale.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.