An international study of fast-food dining perceptions: millennial parents, non-millennial parents, and peer judgement during fast-food family dining

Purpose This study aims to examine peer perceptions of a parent dining in a fast-food restaurant with their child. Design/methodology/approach A vignette approach was used to explore consumer assumptions and normative data using a four-country online survey of parents, with 1,200 respondents (300 from each of Australia, Canada, the UK and the USA). The study included qualitative and quantitative thematic analyses of the responses. Findings Family dining in fast-food restaurants was most often associated with an opportunity for family time together (25%), a treat (25%) and an unhealthy food decision (19%). For some, this is a normal meal that should not be judged (11%), for others, this is merely a meal of easy convenience (9%). Fathers, when depicted as the parent in the vignette, were more likely to be praised for spending time with their children, while mothers were more likely to be critiqued for making poor nutritional choices. Respondents from the USA viewed fast-food family dining more favourably than respondents from Australia, Canada or the UK. Social implications Despite rising obesity in these four countries, only 19% of respondents focused on the unhealthy element of the food choice, suggesting that perhaps this element is not on the forefront of consumer decision considerations. Originality/value This paper confirms parental peer perception differences, based on gender and country, regarding opinions on a child dining with a parent in a fast-food restaurant.

Percentage of Self-feeding Practice in Babies Using Baby-led and Traditional Weaning in Indonesia

<p>Introduction: Baby-led weaning is a new method of complementary food introduction for babies which enables babies to feed themselves. Over the last decade, the number of mothers adopting this method has been growing in many countries including Indonesia, though the exact number is unknown. The practice of self-feeding in babies using baby-led weaning in Indonesia also has not been identified.</p><p>Aim: To identify self-feeding practices among babies in both baby-led and traditional weaning.</p><p>Method: The study design was that of a descriptive survey given to a population of the mothers of six to 12-month-old babies who practiced either baby-led or traditional weaning in Indonesia. A consecutive sampling technique with time limit was used, and 316 respondents were recruited through an online survey.</p><p>Results: Almost half of the baby-led weaning group practiced self-feeding at least 90% of their meals, whereas 80% of the traditional weaning babies practiced spoon-feeding at least 90% of their meals. The self-feeding percentage in the rest of the baby-led weaning participants, however, ranged from 10 to 75%. The type of family, who is appointed to take care of the baby, mother’s occupation, and engagement in family dining may contribute to the variations in self-feeding percentages.</p><p>Conclusion: There was a difference in feeding practices between baby-led and traditionally weaned babies as assumed. The unique percentage of self-feeding among baby-led weaning in this country is useful as a reference for further research in this area.</p>

Mothers' cooking stress and family dining out : examining psychological influences and family dining out benefits on mothers' life satisfaction

This study aimed to (1) to examine whether the constructs of dining out constraints (i.e., interpersonal constraint, structural constraint, and intrapersonal constraint) influence the frequency of mothers dining out with their family, (2) to investigate the relationship between cooking stress, the need for a reward, the desire to dine out, constraints, and the frequency of dining out as leisure, focusing on the entire process from problem/need recognition to purchase decision, (3) to identify whether dining out benefits (i.e., enjoyment, convenience, detachment, relaxation, and learning experience) influence the life satisfaction of mothers, and (4) to assess the moderating effects of mothers' cooking stress on the relationships among dining out benefits and life satisfaction. The results for the constraint model indicated that both interpersonal and structural constraints of dining out have significantly negative impacts on family dining out frequency, but it was failed to find the effect of intrapersonal constraint on family dining out frequency. The findings for the decision-making model indicated that cooking stress has significantly positive impacts on both desire to dine out and need for reward. It was also found that need for reward has a significantly positive impact on desire to dine out, and that desire to dine out has a significantly positive impact on perceived frequency of family dining out as leisure. It was revealed that desire to dine out also has significantly positive impacts on both interpersonal constraint and intrapersonal constraint, while there did not seem to be a positive relationship between desire to dine out and structural constraint. Both interpersonal constraint and structural constraint did not have significantly negative impacts on perceived frequency of dining out. Yet, intrapersonal constraint had a significantly negative impact on perceived frequency of dining out. The results for the benefit model indicated that enjoyment, convenience, relaxation, and learning experience have significantly positive impacts on life satisfaction after family dining out. On the other hand, detachment did not have a significant impact on life satisfaction after family dining out. Regarding the moderating effects of high versus low cooking stress groups, the effects of convenience and learning experience on life satisfaction were significantly smaller in the high cooking stress group than in the low cooking stress group, but the effects of enjoyment on life satisfaction were significantly stronger in the high cooking stress group than in the low cooking stress group. The effects of detachment and relaxation on life satisfaction were not significantly different between the high and low cooking stress groups. The implications of these findings for the restaurant management strategies to attract mothers and their families are discussed.