What Really Decides What You Eat?
Health, taste, time, money or conscience - the motives behind your shopping basket
Most people say they choose food for health and taste. When researchers actually measured the motives behind food choices, they found a longer list, and a more honest one: convenience, price and the look of the product often decide more than people admit. This test scores five of those motives, so you can see which ones really run your kitchen - and which ones only get mentioned.
Before you start There are no right answers. Pick what is usually true for you, not what sounds best.
Think about an ordinary week of shopping and eating, not about special occasions or the diet you intend to start.
What it measures
Five of the motives identified by the Food Choice Questionnaire: health, sensory appeal, convenience, price and ethical concern. It looks at why you pick what you pick, not at how well you eat. It differs from the site's money attitudes test, which covers money in general, and from the cooking-style quiz, which is a light personality game rather than a measure.
Based on: Food Choice Questionnaire (Steptoe, Pollard & Wardle, 1995)
Possible results
Health
Choosing food for what it does for your body.
Taste and appeal
Choosing food for its taste, smell, look and texture.
Convenience
Choosing food that is quick and easy to get and prepare.
Price
Choosing food for what it costs and the value it gives.
Ethical concern
Choosing food for its origin, packaging and how it was produced.
Common questions
Why does this test leave out weight control?
The original questionnaire has nine motives, and a short test has to choose. Weight control was left out on purpose: scoring people on how much their eating is driven by weight is not something a general-audience site should do casually. The five kept here - health, taste, convenience, price and ethics - cover most everyday food decisions.
Do food choice motives differ between countries?
Yes. A study in Belgium, Hungary, Romania and the Philippines found that taste ranked first in the three European samples, while health, price and mood led in the Philippines. Income, food prices and what is on the shelves all shape which motive gets the final say.
Is caring about price a bad thing for my diet?
Not necessarily. Some of the most nourishing foods - beans, lentils, eggs, oats, seasonal vegetables - are also among the cheapest. Price becomes a problem only when it pushes you towards heavily processed options by default. Paying attention to value and to nutrition at the same time is entirely possible.
Sources
- Steptoe, A., Pollard, T. M., & Wardle, J. (1995). Development of a measure of the motives underlying the selection of food: The Food Choice Questionnaire. Appetite. doi:10.1006/appe.1995.0061
- Lindeman, M., & Väänänen, M. (2000). Measurement of ethical food choice motives. Appetite. doi:10.1006/appe.1999.0293
- Januszewska, R., Pieniak, Z., & Verbeke, W. (2011). Food choice questionnaire revisited in four countries. Does it still measure the same?. Appetite. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2011.03.014
An honest note The statements are Quinthea's own wording, adapted from the Food Choice Questionnaire, so your scores cannot be compared with the published norms. This version uses five of the original nine motives and deliberately leaves out weight control. Motives describe what you care about, not what you actually eat, and they shift with income and circumstances. This is not dietary advice. If food or eating causes you distress, talk to a health professional.