Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to establish implicit consumer attitudes towards whole grain foods, following criticisms of explicit enquiries revealing an attitude-behaviour gap. For products considered to have social desirability (e.g. ethical and “health” products) bias may be observed, as respondents may provide responses that present them in a positive light, rather than those reflecting their actual attitudes, intentions or behaviours.
Design/methodology/approach
– The research employed an indirect measure, the shopping list method, analysed quantitatively in this case using factor analysis and regression, to examine the impression respondents form of whole grain consumers, using three discrete shopping lists and two discrete cover letters. Following a pilot survey to 79 people using Snowball sampling, the survey instrument was distributed to 3,000 UK households using a purchased mailing list.
Findings
– The findings demonstrated that respondents considered whole grain consumers to exhibit positive attributes of respectability and self-efficacy compared to their counterparts. These findings countered the negative, product attribute-based views of respondents when queried explicitly about their attitudes to whole grain foods.
Originality/value
– The research provides an original perspective on whole grain consumer attitudes, using a methodology which – whilst well-established – has been used less frequently in a quantitative manner. It provides particular value to food retailers and manufacturers looking to promote whole grain products, but also to policy makers seeking to change consumption habits towards whole grains – which have established health benefits compared to refined alternatives.
