ATTITUDES OF CONSUMERS TOWARD MILITARY AND OTHER INSTITUTIONAL FOODS

In a series of studies, attitudes of military and civilian consumers t oward military and other institutional foods, e.g. foods served in sch ool cafeterias, hospitals, military dining halls, on airlines, etc., w ere examined. The goals of this research were to (1) quantify the ex:t ent and nature of these attitudes in terms of expected acceptability a nd expected quality of the food; (2) determine whether these attitudes can be classified as stereotypical; (3) assess the relative importanc e of presumed causes of poor quality and acceptability in institutiona l food, e.g. skills of food preparers, ingredient quality, consumption environment, etc.; (4) identify the specific aspects of perceived foo d quality, e.g. flavor, texture, nutritive value, etc., that most diff erentiate commercial from military institutional food; (5) quantify th e relationship between expectations of acceptability and actual accept ability ratings of military institutional food; and (6) detail the emp irical effect of institutional vs. brand name food labeling on hedonic acceptability ratings. The results of these studies showed broad and significant effects of institutional food stereotypes on food acceptan ce and food quality ratings. The results were interpreted within the c ontext of a psychological model of the role of consumer expectations o n food acceptability. The implications of the data for institutional a nd brand name food marketing are discussed.