The effects of contextual variables on food acceptability: A confirmatory study

Consumer acceptance of food and beverage was measured in three different settings/locations: a central location test in a laboratory facility, a central location test at one unit of a national chain restaurant and a customer satisfaction survey at the same chain restaurant in multiple cities. Two main dishes (lasagna, cannelloni), salad, breadsticks and iced tea were served either as individual items or as part of a meal. Meal context and the consumer’s ability to choose had the strongest positive effects on acceptance ratings, while social interaction and enhanced environment had no noticeable effects on the acceptability scores. There were significant age and gender effects in the two restaurant settings, but not in the laboratory central location test. The results of this study confirm some of the results of King et al. (2004) [King, S., Weber, A., Meiselman H., & Lv, N. (2004). The effect of meal situation, social interaction, physical environment and choice on food acceptability. Food Quality and Preference, 15, 645–653] on the enhancing effects of context variables on product acceptance, and on how the relationship between context effect and consumer acceptance may not be consistent within and across meal components.