One day, about one in three American adults eat fast food. There are some issues related to this.
Many studies suggest that fast food is not good for you, and it is among many other health-related problems in the obesity epidemic that affects millions of people in the United States. It is related.
But according to new research, the main reason for people is avoid Fast food isn’t just because it’s unhealthy. Rather, they are motivated by guilt.
In a new survey of more than 300 respondents via an online survey, researchers identify key factors that distinguish those who identify themselves as regular fast food consumers or non-regular consumers. I tried.
“The research gap is why we don’t consume fast food [are] The team, led by hospitality management researcher Kiwon Lee, lead author at Kent State University in Ohio, explains in this paper.
When thinking of fast food, nutritional value and deficiency are certainly factors in people’s minds, but that’s just one of many things we can weigh when looking for our next meal.
In the survey, respondents asked a variety of other questions related to fast food, such as functional value (eg convenience, taste, friendliness) and emotional value (eg joy). I was asked to show how important I was. We participated in everything from the risk of food poisoning to animal welfare concerns and the environmental impact of fast food production.
By balancing and interpreting raw data using a variety of statistical methods, researchers have discovered two key distinguishing factors that specifically identify non-regular fast food consumers.
The first factor is the reported tendency to consume fast food in “accidental situations” such as moments of time pressure, traveling, lack of food at home, and stress. did. (In contrast, people who voluntarily choose to eat fast food on a regular basis are probably less likely to do so “accidentally”.)
But it’s the second discriminating factor for non-regular fast food consumers to more clearly explain why they don’t eat fast food the rest of the time. According to the analysis, it is … guilt that makes them abstain most.
“Non-regular consumers may be characterized by feeling guilty about fast food consumption and tending to feel achieved when they are not consuming fast food,” researchers explain. ..
“Interestingly, impairment of well, which is often mentioned as a major problem in fast food and is anecdotally assumed to be the main reason for avoiding fast food, is to distinguish between normal and non-normal consumers. It didn’t affect me. “
This result suggests that knowledge of low nutritional value alone is not sufficient to influence someone’s habits regarding fast food consumption. This has also been found in previous studies.
“We believe that consumption can only be avoided if we perceive unhealthy fast food, such as the feeling of guilt that our results suggest, and if there are other reasons to stop eating fast food.” The team writes.
Researchers acknowledge that the sample size of their study was relatively small, thus suggesting that care should be taken when generalizing their results. In addition, we asked only about hamburgers and fries to make the initial survey easier to manage, but now we can extend the survey design to larger datasets and more fast food groups.
Importantly, the team states that obesity prevention programs can benefit from focusing the message on “guilt.” In short, it aims to keep consumers away from fast food with compelling technology designed to emphasize the feeling of guilt they feel when eating.
This may be useful, but the findings are bidirectional.
In addition to identifying the distinguishing factors that represent non-regular consumers, researchers have also extracted some important factors that distinguish those who eat regular fast food: especially convenience and taste. Concerns about the potential dangers of fast food (probably heavier in your mind if you like to eat a lot of it).
According to the team, these insights, whether by chance or enthusiastic patrons, could quickly be directed to all of us in the form of a newly optimized advertising campaign.
Survey results will be reported at Food quality and taste..
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