title: Implicit shopping: attitudinal determinants of the purchasing of healthy and unhealthy foods.
abstract: Implicit attitudes, evaluations that can occur without effort, quickly and without conscious intent, have been shown to predict self-reported diets and objectively measured food choices within the laboratory. We present two studies which extend the literature by demonstrating that implicit attitudes predict objective purchasing of healthy and unhealthy foods. Both Study 1 (N=40) and Study 2 (N=36) utilised an online shopping paradigm and concerned purchasing of fruit and chocolate. In both studies, implicit attitudes predicted purchases. Explicit attitudes towards buying or eating fruit versus chocolate did not predict purchase behaviour. These studies represent an original test of whether implicit attitudes predict healthy consumer behaviour, which involves participants paying for products. This research provides the strongest evidence yet that implicit attitudes play a role in predicting health food purchases. A comprehensive model of health behaviour should take into account the role of implicit attitudes.
authors: Institute of Psychological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK. a.j.prestwich@leeds.ac.uk
authors: Andrew
authors: A
authors: Prestwich
authors: Robert
authors: R
authors: Hurling
authors: Stephen
authors: S
authors: Baker
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005502:Food; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom; D055815:Young Adult