Changing patterns of tastes and preferences for food in Great Britain

Abstract

Recently the importance of underlying, non-economic factors in the determination of food choice has been increasing. It is hypothesised that changes in these underlying factors, sometimes known as food preferences, are a function of fundamental changes in consumers' attitudes. Attitudes, defined as the belief about an object, the emotions associated with it and the readiness to behave in a certain way, can in turn, it is contended, be determined by socio-economic and demographic measures. The precise nature of food preference changes in Great Britain is measured, and it is shown that post hoc variables are better than a-priori variables at segmenting consumers with respect to their consumption of foods. Moreover, these post hoc variables are statistically significant determinants of the consumption of those foods which have undergone the most marked preference changes in recent years.