Date of Award

2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Bauer, Gordon

Keywords

Psychology, Food, Consumer Ratings

Area of Concentration

Psychology

Abstract

Many factors affect consumer food preferences and ratings, including how the food item is described and presented pre-consumption. Previous research has also demonstrated that perceptions of liking are created before a food item is even tasted, and these expectations can change over the course of a meal. The current study examined how exposure to different menu descriptions (descriptive vs. plain) and different plating aesthetics (refined vs. crude) influenced consumer ratings and satisfaction. College students were given questionnaires to fill out after menu exposure, after plating exposure, and then post-consumption. Results confirmed previous findings in that the descriptive menu was better liked, receiving higher ratings than the plain menu, though only significantly so for two items. No significant results were found concerning plating aesthetics or any interaction between the plating and menu conditions, however interesting trends in the data are mentioned. Implications and suggestions for future research are examined.

Rights

The author has granted New College of Florida the nonexclusive right to archive, make accessible, and distribute for educational purposes this work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The copyright of this work remains with the author.

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