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Well-being

Food and food-related behaviours have a central role in contributing to health, quality of life and subjective well-being beyond health outcomes. Although the research has traditionally focused the attention to factors that can promote healthy food choices and eating patterns, food and eating contribute to well-being in a much wider front: e.g. providing hedonic pleasure, being core part of social activities, and means for self-expression. Food-related behaviours are often regarded as individual decisions, but cultural and social factors have a strong impact on how individuals frame their decisions and what they consider as appropriate alternatives in a certain context. When looking at well-being, the role of food and food-related behaviours should be approached from this holistic perspective that takes into account how they are attached to individuals’ lifestyle and other activities, and thereby contribute to our overall subjective well-being and quality of life. 

                       

Research on well-being in focused on:

  • How consumers understand and perceive the role of food and food-related behaviours in their subjective well-being and quality of life;
  • What is the role of health in food choices and how consumers perceive and process health-related information in food products, health promotion campaigns, and other advice;
  • How consumers negotiate between different motivational factors when making food choices, including pleasure, health, sustainability, price and convenience;
  • What is the role of habitual behaviour and elaborate decision-making in contributing to well-being, and how to support consumers’ informed choices at diet level?