Food acquisition: Novice and expert differences in food cognitions and grocery shopping planning schemata.

摘要

Food acquisition is a critical step in the food provisioning process as it determines, in part, which foods and how much is available to household members. As primary household grocery shoppers for most U.S. households, women weigh food choice factors in an increasingly complex food selection environment. Information Processing Theory and Schema Theory postulate that consumers develop and utilize heuristics and schemas to reduce cognitive load by simplifying choices. Subject domain experts acquire, store, and use information differently than novices. The purpose of this exploratory, qualitative study was to assess novice and expert differences in food cognition heuristics used to conceptualize food as it relates to grocery shopping and identify schemata used to plan and execute major grocery shopping trips. Twenty-four independent young adult women aged 18 to 24 years with no more than two years of college comprised the novice shopper group. Twenty Cooperative Extension nutrition professionals with advanced degrees who developed and/or implemented consumer food shopping education programs comprised the expert group. All subjects completed a packet of questionnaires and a semi-structured interview. Interview transcripts were analyzed qualitatively. Experts were significantly older and had more years of experience shopping. Thirty-four food cognition codes were aggregated into six heuristic categories used by shoppers when grocery shopping. Heuristic categories were: frequency of purchase (29%); staples/meals (20%); food preferences (18%); food uses/attributes (16%); alternative food sources/shopping (9%): and food groups/nutrients (7%). Fisher's exact test analysis indicated that novice and expert use of heuristic categories was not independent. Qualitative analysis identified three pre-shopping planning schema clusters as Non-Planners, Medium Planners, and High Planners. Subjects engaged in distinctive sets of activities or schemas routinely before shopping. Non-Planners tended to plan in the store rather than before shopping. Medium and High Planners engaged in more pre-shopping planning activities overall. A confirmatory cluster analysis revealed a high match with the Non-Planner (83%) and Medium Planner (74%) groups. Cluster analysis identified a smaller group of High Planners based on use of cost-saving activities. To assist novice shoppers in becoming experts, nutrition educators need to base educational programs on shopper's heuristics and schemata.