Researchers Berget et al. apply 39-item FCQ to urban consumers across Africa and Europe; Convenience and sustainability motives similar across countries
Finding common and different factors in the motives underlying food choices across African and European countries | Nofima
Finding common and different factors in the motives underlying food choices across African and European countries
Berget, Ingunn ; Dlamini, Nomzamo; Kock, Henriette L. de; Varela-Tomasco, Paula
Food Choice Questionnaires (FCQs) are widely used to assess consumers’ food choice motives. Most validated versions originate from WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) countries and may not fully capture food environments in developing regions. This study applied a 39-item FCQ to urban consumers in four African countries (South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia) and three European countries (Norway, Finland, France) (N = 500 per country). Urban populations were targeted because they are often early adopters of dietary trends. The assumed FCQ factor structure showed low reliability across countries. To identify shared food choice motives, a two-step approach was applied. First, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted separately in each country. Second, factor loadings were compared and clustered using the Tucker Incongruency Coefficient (TIC), enabling identification of factors with similar loading patterns across countries. Convenience and sustainability emerged as highly similar motives in all countries. Meat-related motives were also present across countries but showed greater heterogeneity in their factor structures. Emotional eating factors were identified in most countries. Gender differences were observed, with men placing greater emphasis on meat-related motives and women scoring higher on emotional eating. Despite substantial cultural and economic differences, the findings indicate the existence of shared food choice motives across low-, middle-, and high-income settings, although these motives appear to be expressed differently depending on context. The study introduces a novel methodological approach for comparing factor structures across cultures and may support the development of more context-sensitive measurement instruments, nutrition policies, and interventions tailored to diverse food environments.
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