An application of means‐end chain approach to consumers’ orientation to health and hedonic characteristics of foods

An adapted laddering technique was used to identify the way consumers perceive health and hedonic aspects of foods. In the interviews, respondents (N=47) first sorted 32 foods into four categories: (1) healthful and pleasure‐giving, (2) not healthful and pleasure‐giving, (3) healthful and not pleasure‐giving, (4) not healthful and not pleasure‐giving. Respondents then generated characteristics of foods in each category and answered questions regarding the attributes they considered to be important in terms of these foods. The laddering data were aggregated and interpreted by means of so‐called “hierarchical value maps”. The 425 terms elicited in the laddering interviews were coded into 59 categories, 22 for attributes and 37 for consequences. Several health characteristics of foods were found, such as: obtaining beneficial compounds, the importance of nutrients, reduced fat content and general health effects of foods. Essential hedonic characteristics were pleasure, taste and good sensory appeal in general. Similarities and differences among the four food categories in regard to attributes and consequences produced in the laddering interviews were analyzed by multiple correspondence analysis (MCA). Links between expressed beliefs and consequences can help to understand motivational structures underlying a choice of foods which are considered healthful or pleasure‐giving or both.

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