What makes meals ‘memorable’? A consumer-centric exploration

•People's perception of positively/emotionally remembered (memorable) meals is explored.•The aspects of a memorable meal are investigated qualitatively and quantitatively.•Trait positive emotional intensity underlies memorability of meal occasions.•Trait food involvement underlies memorability of meal occasions.

The remembered satisfaction and enjoyment of eating occasions can influence future meal choice decisions, but past research into how meals are positively and emotionally remembered and what contributes to such memorability is scarce. The aim of the present study was to draw on the tripartite conceptualisation of ‘the food’, ‘the context’ and ‘the person’ as the major factors underlying food choice/behaviour decisions, and explore what are memorable meals through a retrospective approach of real life eating occasions. Through online survey research with 886 consumers living in the United Kingdom, this research established a typology of different eating occasions that tend to be spontaneously remembered positively. A common denominator was the dual influence of the company and what was consumed as key determinants of memorable meals, with the context (physical and social) of the meal as a third important determinant. Convergence of qualitative and quantitative data suggested that a memorable meal typically involves family/friends, a positive emotional state, cooked food, and wine. The importance given to a range of meal aspects and the positive attitudes towards memorable meals were aligned with the positive emotional intensity and food involvement traits' scores. In contrast, differences between male/female respondents and younger/older respondents were minor. Future research is needed to replicate and extend this investigation and more fully establish linkages between enjoyment, memorability, and food choice decisions.