Within Britain, as within all other developed nations consumers food choices have become increasingly complex, Wendell berry in her essay, ‘the pleasure of eating’ argues that consumers have become passive, uncritical and dependent’ because the individual have re-conceptualised food as distinct from the land and farming, they suffer from a form of ‘cultural amnesia’ which is ‘misleading and dangerous.’ Modern consumers she suggests ignore the critical questions of quality and price when buying food choosing instead to select their foods randomly or irrationally. A number of food companies have advanced similar ideas suggesting that consumers act irrationally, implicitly suggesting food choice analysis to be fruitless. However such views ignore the striking impact of price, quality and income upon the decisions consumers make. Grunert argues convincingly, that food choices can be analyzed, he proposes that growth in the diversity of products available coupled with increasing ‘dynamism, complexity and heterogeneity of consumer demand’ rather than consumer irrationality are responsible for the increased complexity of consumers food choice today.
Grunert, proposes four quality attributes for food products which effect consumer choice, sensory, health, process, convenience. Sensory attributes refer most importantly to the way a food tastes but also its appearance and smell. Past experience therefore plays the role in informing the decisions consumers with respect to sensory attributes. However first time buyers, common given the diversity and constantly changing products available, are unable to taste and in most cases smell or see the foods before purchase and so the effect of sensory indicators is invisible to the consumer. They rely upon marketing signals which offer insights into the taste, smell and look of food. These signals are often misleading, for example, images on food packaging are often created using pain and other additions which make the food appear aesthetically more pleasing. Colour is also used to promote an image of fine taste, as evident is the stylish packaging of ‘Tesco finest’ range in oppose to the simple appearance of their no frills, ‘Tesco-value’ brand. Supermarkets are cooler than room temperature; the effect of this is to make people feel increased hunger which encourages the number of purchases. Sensory attributes are important in defining food choices, in terms of both experience and indirectly through marketing. Within modern Britain, other concerns like health have begun to influence consumer’s decisions.
Health has become increasingly significant in the 50 years as a factor influencing food choice. Analysis of food quality perception suggests that health and sensory considerations have about equal influence upon consumer choices. Unlike taste, perception of a food as healthy or unhealthy cannot relate to individual experience, there is no natural means for an individual to assess the impact of particular food stuff upon his health. This when coupled with the myriad of, often conflicting information surrounding the health benefits of different foods suggests that each individual formulates their own subjective theory as to the health effects of different foods. These theories are informed by the levels of education and are therefore personal however certain themes can be established, for example fatty, sweet foods with additives are usually seen as unhealthy whist vegetables are generally perceived as healthy. People choices, with respect to health are therefore difficult to quantify as they are so subjective, however the increased sale of low fat and functional foods would suggest health to be important. The health benefits of foods have often become linked, in recent years, with processing methods, organic foods often being seen as healthy whilst industrial farms as unhealthy. Processing methods in more general terms have also come to influence the food choice.
The expanding popularity of environmentally friendly, GM-free, animal welfare and organically produced foods, is testament to this, expansion in the importance of processing to consumers choices, especially given that goods produced in these ways are usually more expensive, despite having no obvious advantages in sensory and in most cases health terms. The growing importance of process to modern consumers can be traced to the numerous health scares surrounding poor farming or processing methods, the BSE crisis provides the clearest example of this. This is perhaps the least significant of the four attributes informing people’s food choices, because their market share represents only a small percentage. Convenience foods on the other hand are the fastest expanding of any food type, with an ever increasing number of consumers choosing convenience foods.
Convenience foods are those which reduce the usual time and energy needed for either an individual or household to prepare a meal, from take-away and restaurant eating to pre-sliced onions and microwave meals, such foods are becoming increasingly popular. Darian and Dlein explain this with reference to family demographics, in particular the movement of women into the workplace and the strains this has placed upon the time allocated to food. Modernity has fostered a culture as convince which stretch beyond food choice, in this sense the rapid expansion of convince foods can be seen as part of this wider trend. The above four attributes of quality give an insight into the complexity of consumer choices.
However peoples choices cannot be easily sorted into these four categories, a series of competing and often conflicting influences may influence peoples choice, from any of the four groupings, for example ‘high fat yoghurts’ can be seen as both high and low in quality; high because of taste, low due to poor health outcomes. When consumers choose food they take account of health, process, convince and sensory attributes and make subjective judgments as to which of these are more important at any given time. It is important that we recognise these four attributes as significant yet not complete as indicators of food choice.
Culture has long been established as key to informing consumer’s food choice, this in turn influences the way in which the above quality attributes affect food choice. Different cultures often have a wide diversity of; taste preferences, perceptions of healthy food, notion of convenience, and which types of production processes are acceptable. For example in Scandinavia Rapeseed oil is regarded as high quality and healthy whilst in France the opposite in true. In southern Europe animal welfare is of little significance to food choices whilst in the UK it has a far more dramatic impact. In Germany organic convenience foods would be difficult to envisage, organic in Germany suggests the product to be early in the production process, e.g. dirty or unprepared food. Functional foods, those with added health advantages, are acceptable in Finland a nation that embraces biotechnology whilst in Denmark this is not the case. The importance of cultural factors upon food choice is therefore clear. However, even within nations cultural trends may differ considerable from region to region. One theme however appears to cut across cultural difference and that is indifference.
Although it is possible for all British citizens to gain a diet sufficient to prevent disease, the real experience of people upon lower income or state benefit tells a different story. These minimums fail to recognise humanities desire for diversity, to the extent that it become unattainable. There is a close correlation between poor health and poverty. The cheapest foods today commonly contain far greater amounts of additive and are generally of poorer nutritional outcome. The poor spend quantifiably less on food but a greater percentage of total income, 25.2 a week for average household compared to £106 for the top 10%. The choices available to a group spending 25.2 pounds are clearly more limited than those above this line, therefore we can say that food choice has expanded to a greater extent for middle and upper class families whilst those on low income or benefits have increased in terms of choice but their choices are in relation to those made by the middle class relatively small. Fundamentally we must recognise that income affects directly the choices available and the choices a person makes. Cultural and socio-economic factors however ignore the almost unpredictable way in which certain individuals and families within any group view food in relation to their own lives.
Consumer, perceive food in very various ways that influence consumer food choice. Within almost all modern cultures, groups with a low interest in food can be found. The choices this group make therefore are very difficult to predict and appear to fit more closely within the theory of Berry outlined above. Likewise, other see food as central to providing stability and safety in their lives, and who therefore put high emphasis upon traditional food qualities, known products and production methods, and simple methods of preparing meals. Additionally, many today assume a rational approach to food choice, whilst other make experimental choices, in both cultural and social terms. Essentially, groups of consumers relate quality attributes differently whilst also perceiving these quality attributes to mean different things.
Food choice is greater than it has ever been, however we should not be mislead by the illusion of choice created by supermarkets and industrial farming. The diversity of products available with different wrapping coupled with the disproportionate availability of cheap and easily produced products are examples the hidden ways in which choices are restricted. Contemporary food choices can be analysed with reference to quality indicators, however the perception of consumers food choices have become increasingly multidimensional. Each of the four quality attributes defines a major dimension that defines the way food is viewed and chosen by consumers. Subjective interpretations as to which indicators are more or less important all affects the choices consumers make. Cultural differences add additional complexity to consumer’s choices. Modern food choices are more ‘dynamic, complex and heterogeneous’ than has ever been the case previously. A huge selection of products coupled with a complexity of motives, underlie modern food choices in Britain.
Books
Beardsworth, A. & Keil, T. (1997) Sociology on the Menu: an invitation to the study of food and society. London: Routledge
Tansey, G. & Worsley, T. (1995) The Food System: A Guide. London: Earthscan
Ritzer, G. (2000 New Century Edition, or 1996, 1993 editions) The McDonaldization of Society. London: Pine Forge Press.
Internet
W.Berry ‘the pleasure of eating’ http://www.stjoan.com/ecosp/docs/pleasures_of_eating_by_wendell_b.htm
Dowler, liz, insight from the north
Grunert, Klaus, The Aarhus School, http://www.farmfoundation.org/documents/KlausGrunert3-13-03.pp
W.Berry ‘the pleasure of eating’ http://www.stjoan.com/ecosp/docs/pleasures_of_eating_by_wendell_b.htm
. Klaus G. Grunert
The Aarhus School of Business Denmark
http://econpapers.hhs.se/paper/hhbaarmap/0077.htm
insight from the north. Liz dowler
. Klaus G. Grunert
The Aarhus School of Business Denmark
