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The purpose of this study is to explore the dimensions of restaurant customers’ engagement or disengagement with healthy eating in terms of individual and environmental factors to develop a scale. The results identified the underlying constructs of customers’ individual motives for and perceived barriers to healthy eating, as well as environmental elements of restaurants that encourage or discourage healthy eating.

To develop an appropriate set of measures to assess factors influencing customers’ healthy eating behaviors at restaurants, the current study undertook the five steps of scale development suggested by Churchill (1979): specifying the domain of constructs, generating a pool of initial measurement items, assessing content adequacy, administering questionnaires (an online survey method) and purifying and finalizing the measurement (via exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using 410 samples and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using 423 samples).

The results revealed ten individual factors (health, body image, weight control, feeling better, unappealing food, cost perception, lack of knowledge, state of mind (stress), lack of self-control and negative influences) and five environmental factors (healthy indications, social impact, availability of healthy menu, price policy and unhealthy indications) influencing customers’ healthy eating behaviors at restaurants.

This study developed an appropriate set of measures to assess individual and environmental factors influencing restaurant customers’ healthy eating behaviors, along with identifying underlying sub-constructs. The reliability and validity of the scale and the factor structure are presented and potential applications and theoretical contributions of the scale are provided as well.

This study aims to increase knowledge of the ability of nutrition labels to guide consumer choices in real-life environments.

Food consumption and plate waste data were collected from two self-service restaurants (SSR) with different customer groups over six observation days: three control and three intervention (with nutrition labelling) periods. Study Group 1 consisted of vocational school students, mostly late adolescents (N = 1,710), and Group 2 consisted of spa hotel customers, mostly elderly (N = 1,807). In the experimental restaurants, the same food was served to the buffets during the control and intervention periods.

The nutrition label in the lunch buffet guides customers to eat fewer main foods and salads and to select healthier choices. Increased consumption of taste enhancers (salt and ketchup) was observed in the study restaurants after nutritional labelling. Nutrition labelling was associated with a reduction in plate waste among the elderly, whereas the opposite was observed among adolescents.

The results provide public policymakers and marketers with a better understanding of the effects of nutrition labelling on consumer behaviour. Future studies should further evaluate the effects of nutrition labelling on the overall quality of customer diets and the complex environmental, social, and psychological factors affecting food choices and plate waste accumulation in various study groups.

The purpose of this paper is to report on a quantitative study of the food environment designed to measure aspects of support for healthy eating.

An ecological view of eating behaviour was taken by examining the food environment that surrounded a military population of interest. Food outlets (n = 34) were assessed using the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey in store (NEMS-S), Nutrition Environment Measures Study in restaurants (NEMS-R) and military Nutrition Environment Assessment Tool (mNEAT) instruments to determine how well food outlets supported healthy eating.

Despite better-than-average provision of healthy options on-base, the total environment surrounding the military base barely supports healthy eating. Average support to healthy eating was 45 per cent (NEMS) or 27 per cent (mNEAT) of support that could be measured. Individuals accessing this food environment would find few healthy alternatives, little information directing them to healthy choices and pricing and promotion that drives unhealthy eating behaviours.

This study focused on one food environment; replication is recommended to establish foundation data for benchmarking outlets, and further develop these measures for Australian settings. Future studies may assess the media environment to further extend the ecological model used.

A method to measure the food environment is demonstrated which provides formative research insights for use when planning social marketing interventions. Consideration of these influences together with intra- and inter-personal influences offer the potential to better design social marketing healthy eating interventions, by addressing multiple levels within an ecological framework.

This paper answers calls for social marketers to consider the influence of the surrounding environment, using methods not previously used in Australian settings.

This study aims to investigate how restaurant customers’ heuristic judgment, originating from their perceived level of congruity between restaurant brand image regarding healthfulness and healthy menu products, can affect their information processing in terms of their perceived nutritional information credibility and, furthermore, how these effects influence customers’ attitude toward the menu in terms of healthiness.

A Web-based survey was developed and distributed to randomly selected respondents in the USA, and in total, 320 responses were used for the data analyses. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the relationship among three constructs: perceived brand–product congruity, perceived nutritional information credibility and nutrition attitude toward the healthy menu item being promoted. To assess the mediating role of perceived information credibility, an analytical procedure proposed by (Baron and Kenny 1986) was used. Finally, to investigate the moderating effect of the health involvement, multiple group analyses were executed.

The study results suggested that the synchronization between healthful brand image of the restaurant and the promoted menu item is important for ensuring customers’ perceptions of information credibility regarding the menu item healthiness and for eliciting customers’ positive nutrition attitudes toward the menu item. Also, positive nutrition attitudes toward a menu item can be increased by improving perceived information credibility. Depending on an individual’s level of health involvement, the relationships between the three proposed constructs vary.

This paper includes a theoretical model that explains customers’ heuristic evaluation of a healthy menu product by assessing the influence of brand image congruity in terms of healthy menu promotion.

There are initiatives proposed in a number of states that would mandate calorie information disclosures from restaurant chains on their menus and menu boards. Such labeling laws have already been passed in New York City, Philadelphia, Seattle, and the states of Massachusetts and California. This paper aims to analyze whether nutrition disclosures are necessary for the average consumer to identify meal calorific content, to address consumer motivation to attend to nutrition labels, and to assess whether such labeling efforts may influence consumers' subsequent behaviors.

To address issues related to nutrition labeling of chain restaurants, a food court field study and a longitudinal quasi‐experiment were conducted.

The results indicate that as meal calorie, fat, and sodium levels increase, the level of consumers' underestimation of calories and nutrients increases. Consumers generally need the help of nutrition labeling to identify the content of menu items. Furthermore, there is an effect of perceived item healthfulness on repurchase intentions, and this effect is strengthened by disclosure of nutrition information. However, even after nutrition disclosure, the strength of the effect of taste perceptions on repurchase intentions dominates the effect of meal healthfulness.

This paper identifies that consumers do not have adequate nutrition knowledge when it comes to foods consumed outside the home. Relative comparisons among alternatives may be made, but consumers do not understand the absolute nutritional value of foods consumed. The authors identify that nutritional labeling does influence healthier consumer decisions. However, the key variable is consumer motivation. Only for the most nutritionally motivated consumers will this influence of healthfulness withstand the influence of taste.

People have become more health conscious about the food they eat on any occasion. As healthy dietary information has been released to the public in order to correspond with active public adaptation, more consumers have become aware of and are showing interest in new information related to health. The purpose of this paper is to utilize food-related lifestyle (FRL) instruments to explain nutrition information-conscious behaviors.

This study used a cross-sectional survey design. A questionnaire was developed based on previous studies. A factor analysis and a cluster analysis were conducted to segment nutrition information-conscious behaviors of consumers. Participants were 200 and the survey was administered to citizens in South Korea. Exploratory factor analysis, cluster analysis, analysis of variance, Duncan’s multiple comparison tests, and χ2 test were used.

Nine factors were identified and four clusters were established. These clusters were named: “personal value concern group,” “enthusiastic group,” “moderation group,” and “unconcerned group.” Each segment was significantly different in body satisfaction and nutrition information-conscious behaviors. Nutrients such as dietary fibers, sodium, and trans fat were considered differently by the four segments.

Using an FRL instrument in relation to nutrition information-conscious behavior, interesting conclusions were drawn. Results of this study suggested that each segment has its characteristics in relation to nutrition information-conscious behaviors. Also it can be concluded that it is time for individuals to take responsibility for their own health problems.

The purpose of this paper is to uncover what affected restaurateurs in their intention to participate in the healthy restaurant initiative.

In all, 53 restaurateurs who participated in healthy restaurant initiatives in Korea responded to a survey. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to reveal the influences of perceived innovation characteristics (PICs), attitudes, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control (PBC) on the intention to sustain a healthy restaurant.

The results showed that PBC, attitudes toward healthy restaurants, relative advantage for restaurants, and complexity among PICs were significant influences on the intention to sustain healthy restaurant initiatives.

This research has made the first attempt to evaluate healthy restaurant initiatives using the perspectives of restaurateurs who actually participated in healthy restaurant initiatives. Also, this study extends the research model testing behavior intention using the theory of planned behavior and the innovation adoption theory to investigate the influences on restaurateur intentions to sustain healthy restaurant initiatives.

The findings indicate that operators must have access to sufficient technical resources and a sense of self-efficacy, which encourage restaurateurs to maintain healthy restaurant initiatives. Enhancing positive attitudes and the relative advantages of the healthy restaurant initiatives also encouraged participation. Finally, voluntary and continuous participation and expansion of healthy restaurant initiatives require community and government support, a simple use of process to change, and a good understanding of the relative advantages of healthy restaurant initiatives.

This study first illustrates the factors that best explain the intention to sustain a healthy restaurant from the perspective of restaurateurs. PICs shed light on how complexity and relative advantage for customers helps predict intentions to sustain healthy restaurant initiatives.

The food standards agency recently encouraged catering companies in the UK to introduce calorie labelling on menus or at the point of purchase. The purpose of this paper is to report the feasibility of implementing such a scheme in a restaurant in the UK.

A practical case study approach was adopted whereby all foods on the menu of a London‐based five star hotel restaurant were analysed nutritionally. The menu presented the amount of calories, saturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, fibre and sodium each dish contained. The issues surrounding the display of nutritional information on restaurant menus, perceived difficulties or barriers and resistance to the scheme by staff were documented qualitatively.

Time constraints, and the consequential financial costs, were identified as being barriers that need to be surmounted if the scheme is to operate successfully. The scheme was also viewed as being of low priority by the restaurant operational team.

The paper provides a greater understanding of the operational aspects of nutrition labelling in the catering industry.

This paper adds practical knowledge to the limited literature that exists in relation to nutrition labelling in restaurants in the UK and identifies barriers that need to be overcome for such schemes to be widely implemented and successful.

This study aims to examine the major influences of food choices of Chinese teenagers within a dynamic food marketing environment.

The paper reports findings from semi-structured interviews with high school students which examine teenagers’ guidelines for selecting food, along with their actual eating behavior.

The results reflect on how four major influences – personal, family, peer and retailer – may intersect to affect the eating behaviors of Chinese adolescents, as they navigate an intense education schedule during a time of rapidly changing cultural values. Different norms of food choice – nutrition, food safety, taste, body image, price, convenience, sharing, friendship and fun – are evoked according to the social context and concurrent activities of the teenagers.

The findings offer tentative insights related to the potential for promoting healthier eating habits for adolescents in urban areas of China.

The study demonstrates how, within this rapidly changing food environment, food retailers are creating alliances with teenagers to meet needs of convenience, speed, taste and social interaction.

The present study aimed to discover whether there are any differences among people in healthy eating and nutrition consciousness when they eat out at restaurants. Also, the study aimed to determine what relationship exists between consumers' lifestyle and their behavioral intention to eat healthily when dining out. In addition, the study investigated the relationships between restaurant attributes and consumers' intention to eat healthily when dining out.

This study posits that restaurant attributes have an impact on consumers' intention to order healthy meals at a restaurant. Questionnaires were distributed and collected over a two-month period in south Florida. Respondents were asked to indicate on a five-point scale their considerations when selecting a restaurant and particular ingredients in the food when dining out. The study analyzed the data using one-way ANOVA and Games-Howell test in order to find that considerations about nutritional components when choosing a meal at a restaurant. Also, multiple regression was run to determine the relationship between lifestyle and restaurant attributes and intention to order healthy food at a restaurant.

Most of the respondents (76.5 percent) were concerned about their weight; however, only 26.7 percent of the respondents were actually on a diet. Of the respondents 33 percent knew about MyPyramid (USDA), which is an updated version of the Food Pyramid (USDA). Based on the results of one-way ANOVA and Games-Howell test, the study found that considerations about nutritional components when choosing a meal at a restaurant differed according to consumers' knowledge of health issues, weight concerns, gender, age, and marital status. Also, the results of multiple regression suggested that lifestyle, offering variety of healthy food, and services were significant predictors of consumers' intention to order healthy food at a restaurant, whereas other attributes of restaurants were not significant predictors for the ordering of healthy food.

This study has contributed unique and extended conclusions from previous studies and has given consumers a better understanding about particular nutritional components in order for them to take advantage of the recent trend in more healthy foods being available at restaurants. The results of this study revealed that restaurants' marketing strategies for healthy food need to target consumers whose lifestyle promotes a healthy life in terms of regular exercise, dietary plans, or eating food considering the FoodPyramid, rather than target consumers whose lifestyle is less healthy. However, the results of this study also suggest that the offering of healthy food and good services do have effect on consumers' consideration to order healthy food.