Food plays a central role in the life of consumers. It is the source of nutrition and hedonic experiences, it serves a social and cultural function, and has considerable economic significance since a major proportion of the household budget is allocated to purchasing food. Yet food consumption behavior has not attracted much systematic attention by consumer behavior researchers. At least part of the difficulty in conducting consumer behavior research in this important area lies in the complexity and the diversity of the influences at work in food choice and consumption, and in the fact that such research requires knowledge of the concepts of and insights from a wide range of science and social science disciplines, including food science, nutrition, medicine, psychology, physiology, psychophysics, sociology, economics, marketing, and anthropology.
The purpose of this paper is to present an interdisciplinary overview of the literature on the determinants of food consumption behavior in order to assist consumer behavior researchers in their own research efforts. No claim can be made that this overview is complete, but a number of key findings from various disciplines will be reviewed. Some research issues are identified for which consumer behavior researchers could make a particularly valuable contribution.