Health, Pleasure, Physical Appearance: Which Motivates Food Involvement Mostly?

Abstract

The study of involvement is grounded in its widely accepted role as a mediator of the effects and effectiveness of advertising messages, having already shown evidence of its impact on target audiences’ receptivity to communication. This article is the outcome of research that aimed to understand the motivations underlying food involvement, assuming they can be three: health, physical appearance and pleasure. A quantitative research strategy was adopted and a questionnaire survey was applied to a convenience sample, from which 1166 valid responses were obtained. The main results indicate that individuals are generally involved with food, though women and the youngest age group (18–39 years old) have the highest level of food involvement. Food involvement is also most connected to the motivation pleasure, followed by health and, finally, physical appearance.