Several other studies have shown that ready meal consumption could be, to a large extent, dependent on the outcome of consumers trade-offs between convenience aspects, on one side, and sensory- and health-related aspects on the other (Boer & McCarthy, 2003; Costa et al., 2003; Oude Ophuis et al., 1994). The findings of this study introduce, nevertheless, new evidence of what could also be an important determinant of ready meal use: the negative valuation of convenience attributes, deriving from the conviction that an appropriate amount of effort, attention and time should indeed be put into meal preparation. By being associated with feelings of guilt, regret and neglecting ones duty, ready meal consumption may become very undesirable for some precisely because it is very convenient. The low moral status of convenience food consumption has been highlighted in previous studies.