A Framework for Aligning REAL Food Public Policy with Consumers’ Multiple Eating Motivations

Abstract

Multiple motivations drive consumers when obtaining and eating food, including taste, healthiness, fullness, price, convenience, waste avoidance, and social and cultural norms (Chandon, Haws, and Liu 2022; Glanz et al. 1998; Liu et al. 2015; Renner et al. 2012; Sproesser et al. 2018). The relative strength of these motivations can vary across consumers chronically (e.g., restrained eaters may prioritize weight management; Liu and Haws 2020) and situationally (e.g., consumers may prioritize fullness right before lunchtime). In addition, a global perspective is important: The relative prioritization of different eating motivations may vary across countries given different food-relevant challenges across regions. For example, in regions with extreme food scarcity due to droughts or war, consumers’ primary motivations are likely very different from those in regions where nonnutritious food is abundant (and often cheap and convenient, as in food deserts). Addressing these various consumer eating motivations is key to overall consumer well-being (Block et al. 2011) as well as to societal well-being (Scott and Vallen 2019). Importantly, the ability to address these motivational drivers can be shaped by public policies, both general policies (e.g., child tax subsidies) and food-specific policies. In this commentary, we focus on food-specific public policies (“food policies” hereinafter). We argue that food policies ought to consider the array of different consumer eating motivations, including both (1) how policies may affect perceptions of the ability of different food options to address various motivations and (2) the relative importance of different motivations. Notably, these motivations may vary over time and across situations (e.g., eating in vs. outside the home), individuals, groups, and countries. Ultimately, eating motivations are critical determinants of both consumer support of different policies and the policies’ effectiveness at promoting consumer and societal well-being (Scott and Vallen 2019). The REAL Food Policy Framework