The consumption of convenience foods: reference groups and eating situations

The theory of reasoned action was applied to study situational influence on the consumption of TV dinners. We investigated five situations, which were either time-related (weekdays vs weekends) or social ("dinner alone", "dinner with family", and "dinner with friends"). The intention to use a TV dinner decreased from "alone" via "with family" to "with friends", but did not differ between weekdays and weekends. Subjective norms were a stronger influence on intentions than attitudes in all situations, except for "weekdays" and "dinner alone". Primary reference groups were a stronger influence on intentions than secondary reference groups, and the motivation to comply with a particular reference group increased substantially when it joined for dinner. Consumption frequency for TV dinners was higher in households where the person responsible for meal preparation held a paid job, and it was positively related to the number of hours that this person was employed. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.