Food information presentation: consumer preferences when eating out.

Abstract

Advances have been made in the provision of nutritional and ingredient information on packaged food, however there is a need to translate this to eating out reflecting consumer desire for greater transparency and knowledge of menu content. The aim of this study is to assess consumer’s preferences for food information presentation in four European countries (UK, Greece, Denmark, and France) in a workplace dining setting. This study focuses on work-place canteens since the regularity in which they are used provides an important context and potential for behaviour change. An exploratory phase designed iteratively in collaboration with experts, end-users and researchers (qualitative) informed a survey (quantitative) conducted in four European countries. The survey was used to examine workplace diners’ preferences towards food information presentation. Differences were found and clustered (n=5) to ‘Heuristic Processors’ (33%) ‘Brand orientated’ (25%) ‘Systematic Processors’ (17.3%) ‘Independent Processors’ (16.1%) and ‘Tech-savvy’ (8.6%). Dual process theories were used to analyse the findings and produce new insight into how menu information can be most effectively delivered. When eating out consumers struggle to make choices or make the wrong choice from a health perspective, partly caused by a lack of nutrient profile information as well as other criteria of concern. Giving catering managers the understanding of preferred communication channels can enable a more competitive operator. Traffic light labeling was the optimal presentation with the opportunity for consumers to discover more detailed information if desired. For the first time this research has given operational clarity whilst allowing food providers to be considered as part of corporate health.