Factors That Influence Meal Choices - Term Paper Example

Choosing a Meal Student Name: Student Number: Course Code: Word Count: Date of Submission: Contents Contents 1 1.0 Introduction 2 2.0 Five Different Four-Course Meal Options 3 3.0 Interview Responses 4 4.0 Analysis 5 5.0 Personality and Meal/Food Choice 6 5.1Culture 6 5.2 Religion 8 6.0 Other (Demographic) Factors That Influence Meal Choices 9 6.1 Family 9 6.3Social setting 10 6.4 Age 10 6.5 Education, Employment and Income 10 7.0 Conclusion 11 8.0 Reference List 11 1.0 Introduction Hoteliers and others who deal in food products need to research and comprehend the preferences of their customers so as to avail that food composition that will sell and at the same time satisfy the customer. This report seeks to look into the factors that influence people’s choices for different meals, with basis on the theories of personality and demographics. To set grounds on the approach, the paper identifies a list of five different meals and includes an interview response of three interviewees, on the five choices of meals. From the responses, it is possible to get an overview of the factors that influences people’s choices for meals. Some of these factors are actually general influencers that can be identified to cut across universally. It is this universal understanding of the customers’ preferences that the hotel managers need to have, in terms of effecting marketing. Even so, the issue of understanding customer needs is more pronounce for international hotels who serve clients from various origins. This is because in such a case, food is not just a combination of the different spices but it becomes culture item and efforts to satisfy touring clients. Take for instance, gastronomic tourism, where the eating individuals are more concerned with the culture associated with a particular food item. Therefore, market research and global understanding of factors around food is vital, especially in the tourism industry. It has become and continues to be a vital feature in the growth and development of tourism. This is because food forms a central asset to a tourism experience. The other view is that since culture is an important source of products to the tourism industry, gastronomy then proves its essence as an identity formation source in the contemporary societies. It is thus relevant to discuss and report factors influencing choice of food or meals, especially for gastronomy as a product of tourism. From this preview alone, at least when talking about meals for international visitors, culture is an evident influencer of the choices that people make for meals preference. 2.0 Five Different Four-Course Meal Options Course Option 1 Option 2 Option 3 Option 4 Option 5 Starter Smoked salmon parcel filled with grilled shrimps and vegetables, flavoured with coriander and lemon with mesclun salad and parmesan crackers, accompanied with French country mustard sauce. Smoked chicken & avocado tartar with lightly spiced citrus fruits-winter salad and Greek yoghurt dressing Smoked salmon river trout mousse terrine with mustard marinated French, bean salad, herbed chèvre cream mint relish Soup A terrine of vine-ripened tomato, fresh mozzarella& sweet basil dusted with sea salt,freshly cracked peppercorns andextra virgin olive oil drizzle. Crab that is! Perfectly seasoned lumpcrabmeat cakes lightly sautéed in drawn butter served atop mixed field-greens with a caper aioli Soup Wild mushroom cream soup with crostini bread. Lobster Bisque, Traditional with garlic bread Roasted pumpkin soup served with spicyvegetable samosa & tomato salsa Wild mushroom cream soup with crostinibread. Main Course Lobster Thermidor Omani lobster tail, mushroom and cream, basmati rice ORRoasted beef medallion with caramelized baby onion confit, Buttered asparagus, potato fondant and thyme sauce. Herb roasted rack of lamb, saffron scented, ratatouille, and mint sauce OR Grilled Scandinavian salmon, cilantro potato timbale served on bed of steamed vegetables and saffron sauce. Japanese prawn tempura OR Fillet of U.S beef tenderloin with garlic, potato, Portobello sauce Desert. Egg-washed medallions of veal or chickenlightly sautéed and finished in veal/chicken broth reduction sauce with lemon essence and Italian parsley garnish Sautéed medallions of veal or chicken, capers, and kalamata olives in a white wine and Meyer lemon reduction sauce Desert Devil chocolate cake with Carmelita ice cream and exotic fruits Orange chocolate velvet dome, red fruit coulis Mango & cream Brule cake, hazelnut crunch, fruit cuts Devil chocolate cake with Carmelita ice cream and exotic fruits Orange chocolate velvet dome, red fruit coulis Table 1: Meals options 3.0 Interview Responses Respondent Option 1 Option 2 Option 3 Option 4 Option 5 Interviewee 1 Does not prefer smoked foods and also thinks that the coriander and the lemon give a mixed flavour, which is no for the interviewee. Soup and Desert are fine but the roasted beef does not go well with smoked starter. 1/5 Ranking Prefers the starter without the smoked and the soup perfectly goes with the second option of the main course. 3/5 Ranking Prefers American and so does not like the starter but find a good combination with the soup and the second option of the main course. The desert is good. 4/5 Ranking Prefers chicken as a main course rather than a starter as is in option 2. Thus, the starter compliments the main course and the desert is okay. 2/5 Ranking Enjoys Crabmeat dishes and so the starter is awesome. The soup is fine and the main course is perfect. Does not mind the desert. 5/5 Ranking Interviewee 2 Enjoys smoked dishes but prefers the starter with soup for Option 2 and the first choice of the main course on Option 1. Find the desert just okay. 3/5 Ranking The starter is good in containing meat and greens. Prefer the soup in Option 1 for this and the second choice of the main course in Option 2. Likes the desert. 4/5 Ranking Enjoys the starter as it combines well the second choice of the main course. Says the soup if fine and sets the mood. Also find the desert perfect for the course. 5/5 Ranking Says the starter is more comprehensive than the main course. Main course is just fine but enjoys the desert. 1/5 Ranking Starter is just okay, soup is fine and main course is interesting. The desert is good. 2/5 Ranking Interviewee 3 Similar to Interviewer 2, does not like smoked dishes but enjoys French dishes, and prefers second choice of the main course. Soup is good and the desert is nice. 2/5 Ranking Would rather have spices and greens on the starter but without any meat. Soup sets course well. Any of the main course choices can do. 1/5 Ranking The course is perfect and would have any day in preference. 5/5 Ranking Finds foreign cuisine interesting and would not judge till tasted. Same way as he liked French dishes, would not mind tasting this Italian piece 3/5 Ranking Mushroom soup always works. Crabmeat starter and a chicken main course bring s a sense of diversity in the meal. 4/5 Ranking Table 2: Option preference ranking by 3 interviewees 4.0 Analysis The meal options were varied enough to include American, French and Italian dishes, from which the three interviewers were to choose from. From the interview, there is a very evident difference in preferences and even ranking of the five choices for a meal. As highlighted earlier on, choices for a meal would depend on one’s personality or given demographics such as age, gender, family situation, income, and ethnicity amongst others. From the two tables above (Table 1 and Table 2), it is possible to find out which meal is most preferred by an individual from the three interviewees. However, it can be very difficult and challenging when trying to make an identification of the most preferred meal by the three. This is because the factors that influence choice are varied, hence the essences of this report in detailing the same. Nonetheless, if the report were to go by the ranking of the meals, a numerical method can be devised to predict the one meal that is most probable to sell against the other four, with respect to the selling hotel’s point of view. Meal Option Option 1 Option 2 Option 3 Option 4 Option 5 Total Ranking 6/15 8/15 14/15 6/15 11/15 Table 3: Summation of the rankings per meal option This approach/idea sums up the rankings of each of the five meal options, as valued by the three interviews. As such, the maximum score in ranking would be 15 and indicates the meal that is most probable for sale. From this, as is in Table 3 above, the most probable meal for sale is course option 3, followed by option 5 and then option 2, with Options 1 and 4 scoring the same in probability for sale. The important point to note is that in this approach for analysis, the scores present the probability for sale from the hotel’s point of view. It, however, does not present the picture of the most preferred meal, because, once more, the factors that influence meal choice are varied from one individual to another. The task can be even more challenging when it involves so much diversity in preferences as seen above. 5.0 Personality and Meal/Food Choice A person’s personality defines their preferences and ways of making choices for various things and not only food. Interestingly, there are two major intricate aspects that define personality, as it in turn influences a person’s choice of food. According to Dindyal (2003) the first of these two aspects is religion and the second is culture, which has been mentioned earlier. Keller and Seigrist (2015) carried out a study to give a general view of the two to detail how the theory of personality relates to food choice. The study adopted the Path models which revealed that a personality characterized by honesty and preference for openness to new experience is associated with higher affinity for fruits, vegetable and salad. This means that such personality chose meals that have less meat content, and also prefers less soft drink consumption. Such is closely similar to a personality of friendliness and sociability, which is also in preference of low meat consumption (Ajzen, 1988). 5.1Culture Culture’s influence on meal choices can be view in two possible different prisms; as a cultural background dictates what one eats and as a celebration of culture in the meals itself: From the first perspective, a person’s cultural background could determine what they are supposed to eat and what not to. Different cultures encourage consumption of particular foods while they inhibit or discourage others, for various reasons. In addition, some cultures also disallow consumption of certain foods at given ages of a person, and actively encourages consumption of the same foods after a person attains certain stages of life. Cultural backgrounds, beliefs and norms encourage or disallow certain foods with basis on the apparent benefits and dangers that they associate with consumption of these foods. These benefits and dangers, hence preferences, are not universal but vary from one culture to another. In the same context, different cultures allow consumption of certain foods at different times of life and in certain conditions. So far, this may sound irrelevant to the hotelier in terms of food marketing but really, it is still the effect of culture on what a person chose to eat as food. Some of them can actually be so sensitive, for instance, some cultures including the modern contemporary culture does not approve of alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Therefore, meals with alcoholic wine on the desert may not be much of a choice for such cultures. With this respects, cultural influence on food choice lies with the different beliefs within the different cultures. The second view of culture’s influence of food choice takes the perspective of how culture can be communicated and celebrated through food/meal cuisines. The list of five meals outlined earlier on in this report included American, Italian and French meals in an effort to establish a sense of diversity, cultural diversity. This cultural diversity in the meals is what some people prefer - interviewee 3 exhibited this preference in his affinity to foreign meals or foods. However, this preference for cultural diversity in food cuisine is most pronounced in, and best detailed by, tourism or better still, food tourism.Based on the idea that food type and quality only exists by cultural acceptance from local communities, gastronomy can be and has been used in destination marketing. In this perspective, it becomes a tool of determining certain characteristics of a given market for the products and services of another entity (Londoño, 2011). Robinson et al. (2011) bring a totally different yet essential bearing to this discussion by introducing the element of edibility of the food and level of consumption by the tourists for whom the food is intended. Just because the tourists come in to enjoy the food prepared and availed does not mean that they all will enjoy the cuisine Celebration of food variations, through reflective eating and drinking, then becomes a unique product of a specific region rather than being a product of tourism advancements. With its development, food tourism has the main goal and primary aim of improving gastronomic lives of respective communities. According to Boyne et al. (2003), this is achieved through appreciation of and ensuring environmental and social sustainability. Social sustainability herein refers to revering the social or cultural element of the food and ensuring that it remains evident in the content of food and style of preparation. Gastronomy tourism is still an emerging and growing section of tourism with different cities trying to emerge as gastronomic destinations. It can then be said that the prevalence of gastronomic tourism has awakened an internally and externally propelled motivation for cities to pivot food tourism. Resultantly, everyone is eager to display to the rest of the world what their land produces and how much quality they can accord to their foods (Sims, 2009). 5.2 Religion Religion is another evident determinant of one’s personality, with respect to food choice and other factors of life as well. Culture influential but not as much as religion is, especially in the modern society where conservative culture has been abandoned majorly while religion holds. Hence, religion is the most influential personality aspect relative to choices and subsequent selection of foods. To make this comprehensive, the report gives examples from three religions. The first example is in Christianity where. Catholic Christianity where believers of the faith are allowed to consumer any type of meat without any religious barring. This is different form the Buddhist and Hindu religions that specifically disallow consumption of pork meat. An interesting difference and similarity is evident with the Islamic religion. The latter religion allows consumption of beef but frowns in at the consumption of pork. The reason that religion has so much influence on one’s choices is because Religious institutionsare considered the pillar of integrity and epitome of morality in any modern society. Ideally, most of the prohibited foods by religion are so because those religions consider them unclean. From the interview with the three respondents, on the five meal options, none of them stated any aspect of religious limitation on the food choice. Therefore, this indicates that in as much as religion is a big influencer of food choice, believers may make other choice if given a chance. The perception is that those who do not consume certain foods on grounds of religion only do so for religions itself. If the same religion were to change and accept consumption of the previously prohibited foods, they would actually take on the same. As such, religion as an aspect of personality is not comprehensive enough a reason upon which to lay basis for marketing decisions. This then leads to the need to look into other (demographic) factors that influence food/meal preferences as exhibited by the three interviewees. 6.0 Other (Demographic) Factors That Influence Meal Choices 6.1 Family According to Anderson et al (1998), family is themost significant factor that influences food decisions and the most widely recognized in these respects. Perception of certain food starts from the family depending on what the family regularly eats. The family can either be a source of encouragement or otherwise, pertaining given meals and foods 6.3Social setting The factor of social influences on food preferences is about how one or more persons impact the meals selection behaviour of another. One’s choice can be easily influenced by those around them and most likely will be about what the group sees as good.Social influence can be a good thing if it encourages one on healthful dietary change (Devine et al. 2003), thus a beneficial influence. 6.4 Age As mentioned earlier, age for food is a factor that is subject to other factors such as culture, which define the age at which one is allowed to eat certain foods. In the contemporary society, though, the adolescent stage is a notorious age characterized by uncontrolled and mostly unhealthy eating. According to Neumark-Sztainer et al. (1999), most adolescents make food choices an influenced by food cravings, convenience of food, time, food availability and eating behaviours. Most of these practices are unhealthy eating that need to be addressed. 6.5 Education, Employment and Income Education and knowledge enable one to make informed choices regarding meals and foods to take. Employment on the other hand regards the physical demands and requirements of a particular job that one does. With education and information, one has to make wiser and healthier choices for food. However, according Dibsdall et al. (2003), these depend on ones income because one may desire to have certain kinds of meals but income level can be a limiting factor. 7.0 Conclusion Marketing for food requires extensive market research to identify people’s preferences – it is more like identifying consumer behaviour in business. However it is more complicated, considering the variation in the factors that influence decision and selections of meals. This dynamism makes the job more complicated for a marketer for meals. From the meals listed in the report and the interviews conducted, the report is able to identify the meal course that is most probable for sales, as discussed earlier on in the report. This was achieved with basis on the rankings of the five options, by the three interviewees. In that earlier stage of the discussion, the report recommended Option 3 as the meal most probable for sale. However that was subject to the given method of discussion. As such, it is recommendable that a marketer choses the most appropriate and effective research methodology and analysis strategy for a comprehensive food meals marketing. 8.0 Reference List Ajzen, I. 1988. Attitudes, Personality and Behaviour. Milton Keynes: Open University Press. Anderson, A. S., Cox, D. N., McKellar, S., Reynolds, J., Lean, M. E. J., Mela, D. J. 1998. Take Five, a nutrition education intervention to increase fruit and vegetable intakes: impact on attitudes towards dietary change. British Journal of Nutrition,80: 133-140. Boyne, S. Hall, D. and Williams, F. 2003. Policy, Support and Promotion for Food-Related Tourism Initiatives: A Marketing Approach to Regional Development. In: M. Hall, Wine, Food and Tourism Marketing. Binghampton: The Haworth Hospitality Press. Devine, C. M., Connors, M. M., Sobal, J. and Bisogni, C. A. 2003. Sandwiching it in: spillover of work onto food choices and family roles in low- and moderate-income urban households. Social Science and Medicine, 56: 617-630. Dibsdall, L. A., Lambert, N., Bobbin, R. F. and Frewer, L. J. 2003. Low-income consumers' attitudes and behaviour towards access, availability and motivation to eat fruit and vegetables. Public Health Nutrition 6(2): 159-68. Dindyal, S. 2003. How Personal Factors, Including Culture And Ethnicity, Affect The Choices And Selection Of Food We Make. The Internet Journal of Third World Medicine, 1(2). Keller and Seigrist, 2015. Does personality influence eating styles and food choices? Direct and indirect effects, Appetite,84(1): 128–138. Londoño, M. P. 2011. Gastronomy Tourism: An opportunity for local development in Catalonia? A stakeholder analysis. Barcelona: University of Barcelona. Neumark-Sztainer, D., Story, M., Perry, C. and Casey, M. A. 1999. Factors influencing food choices of adolescents: findings from focus-group discussions with adolescents. J Am Diet Association, 99(8): 929-37. Robinson, P., Heitmann, S., and Dieke, P. 2011. Research Themes for Tourism. Oxfordshire: CABI International. Sims, R. 2009. Food, place and authenticity: local food and the sustainable tourism experience. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 17(3): 321-336. Read More