Attitude Toward Consuming the Food (ATCF)

Abstract

The Attitude Toward Consuming the Food (ATCF) scale is a concise, highly reliable, three-item semantic differential scale designed to evaluate an individual's immediate, affective, and hedonic orientation toward the consumption of a targeted edible product. Developed and psychometrically validated by Keh, Wang, and Yan (2021) within the domain of consumer psychology and retail marketing, the instrument operationalizes consumer evaluations across three bipolar affective anchors: dislikable/likable, unenjoyable/enjoyable, and unpleasurable/pleasurable. Originally applied to investigate how imaginative, creative product arrangements stimulate consumer desire and purchase intentions for confectionery items, the scale addresses a critical methodological need for a parsimonious, unidimensional measure of consumer food liking that avoids survey fatigue while preserving psychometric rigor. Measured on a 7-point continuum, the ATCF captures hedonic anticipation—a fundamental cognitive-affective precursor to eating behavior, impulse buying, and willingness to pay. Across empirical studies, the scale demonstrates exceptional internal consistency (Cronbach’s $\alpha$ frequently exceeding .90, composite reliability $> .90$) and robust convergent, discriminant, and predictive validities within structural equation modeling (SEM) frameworks. The ATCF provides sensory researchers, behavioral economists, nutritional psychologists, and marketing scholars with an efficient metric for testing interventions involving visual food cues, retail atmospherics, packaging aesthetics, and sensory marketing.

Keywords

Attitude Toward Consuming the Food, ATCF, food psychology, hedonic consumption, consumer behavior, sensory marketing, semantic differential, visual merchandising, purchase intention, food attitude measurement

Authors

The Attitude Toward Consuming the Food scale was developed and introduced by an international team of researchers in marketing, consumer psychology, and retail strategy:

• Hean Tat Keh — Professor of Marketing, Department of Marketing, Monash Business School, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Professor Keh’s research focuses on service marketing, consumer psychology, retail management, and strategic marketing issues.
• Di Wang — Senior Lecturer / Researcher in Marketing, School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations, QUT Business School, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Dr. Wang specializes in visual merchandising, consumer creativity, sensory cues, and shopper decision-making processes.
• Li Yan — Associate Professor of Marketing, School of Business Administration, Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing, China. Dr. Yan investigates consumer information processing, experiential marketing, retail atmospherics, and food decision-making.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Attitude Toward Consuming the Food (ATCF) scale is to quantify an individual’s subjective, affective, and hedonic predisposition toward ingesting a designated food product following exposure to specific environmental, visual, or contextual stimuli. In experimental consumer psychology, sensory science, and food choice research, scholars frequently require an immediate, post-exposure assessment of how appealing consumption feels to the consumer. Conventional measures of general brand attitude or broad product evaluations often conflate utilitarian value (such as nutritional content, price-value perceptions, or healthfulness) with pure hedonic anticipation (pleasure, sensory enjoyment, and affective liking).

The ATCF isolates the hedonic reward expectation associated with consuming a specific food. It serves several core research and applied purposes:

• Evaluation of Retail Atmospherics and Visual Merchandising: As established by Keh, Wang, and Yan (2021), creative or thematic visual displays (e.g., confectionery arrangements shaped into imaginative figures) elicit elevated hedonic appraisals. The ATCF measures the specific downstream affective appraisal that mediates the relationship between creative retail design and consumer purchase intentions.
• Sensory Marketing Interventions: The scale enables sensory researchers to assess the differential impact of visual, olfactory, auditory, and textual food cues (such as gourmet food plating, indulgent verbal descriptors, or dynamic packaging imagery) on expected eating enjoyment.
• Distinction Between Utilitarian and Hedonic Food Orientations: By focusing specifically on liking, enjoyment, and pleasure, the scale provides a targeted gauge of experiential eating motivation, separating affective desire from rational dietary calculations.
• Minimization of Participant Burden: In complex laboratory or field experiments featuring multiple stimulus exposures, extensive scales increase respondent fatigue, straight-lining, and survey drop-out. The three-item structure of the ATCF yields a high-fidelity snapshot of food-directed affect in less than 30 seconds.

Psychological Construct

The ATCF operationalizes the construct of hedonic food consumption attitude. In psychological literature, an attitude is defined as a psychological tendency expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993). When directed toward food consumption, attitudes possess dual facets: utilitarian (instrumental, health-focused, functional) and hedonic (affective, sensory, experiential).

The ATCF concentrates exclusively on the affective-hedonic dimension, which represents the sensory gratification, anticipated joy, and emotional pleasure derived from eating. The three items of the scale measure complementary aspects of this single latent construct:

1. Dislikable / Likable (Overall Affective Valence)

This item captures the fundamental, immediate directional valence that an individual assigns to the prospect of eating the food item. Evaluative conditioning and sensory appraisal initiate an immediate approach-avoidance response. Evaluating an item as “likable” reflects an intuitive baseline positive valence toward sensory ingestion, reflecting early-stage affective processing within the human reward system.

2. Unenjoyable / Enjoyable (Anticipated Experiential Engagement)

Enjoyment extends beyond simple liking by incorporating an experiential, process-oriented dimension. In the psychology of eating, “enjoyment” denotes the cognitive and emotional immersion experienced during consumption. Measuring whether an act is perceived as unenjoyable or enjoyable captures the respondent's mental simulation of the eating experience itself, evaluating the temporal process of savoring the texture, taste, and sensory properties of the food.

3. Unpleasurable / Pleasurable (Sensory and Hedonic Gratification)

Pleasure is the core neurobiological and psychological currency of hedonic reward (Berridge & Kringelbach, 2015). This bipolar pair assesses the anticipated neuro-affective payoff of consumption—the degree to which eating the product is expected to stimulate hedonic neurocircuitry, relieve sensory craving, and induce positive affective states. In contexts involving sweet, savory, or rich foods (such as the confectionery products evaluated in Keh et al., 2021), anticipated pleasure constitutes the dominant psychological driver of consumption intention.

Together, these three items form a unified, unidimensional continuum reflecting an individual’s holistic hedonic orientation toward consuming the stimulus. Rather than evaluating whether the food is healthy, economical, or practical, the ATCF measures how pleasurable and emotionally rewarding the act of eating is anticipated to be.

Theoretical Framework

The Attitude Toward Consuming the Food scale is grounded in several foundational paradigms within social psychology, sensory marketing, and behavioral economics:

1. The Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) Model

Originating in environmental psychology (Mehrabian & Russell, 1974), the S-O-R framework posits that environmental stimuli ($S$) influence internal organismic states ($O$), comprising affective and cognitive evaluations, which subsequently drive behavioral responses ($R$). In the empirical framework of Keh et al. (2021), imaginative food displays act as the environmental stimulus ($S$), the Attitude Toward Consuming the Food represents the central internal affective organismic reaction ($O$), and purchase intention or actual buying behavior constitutes the behavioral response ($R$). The ATCF serves as the critical psychological mediator explaining why visual creativity translates into commercial and consumption outcomes.

2. Hedonic Consumption Theory

Pioneered by Holbrook and Hirschman (1982), Hedonic Consumption Theory posits that consumer behavior is frequently driven not by rational, information-processing problem solving, but by the pursuit of fantasies, feelings, and fun. Food products—particularly confectionery, desserts, gourmet snacks, and luxury foods—are predominantly consumed for sensory and emotional gratification. The ATCF provides an operational vehicle for measuring this hedonic pursuit, capturing the emotional resonance that arises when consumers mentally simulate the consumption of aesthetically appealing food.

3. Mental Simulation and Grounded Cognition

According to grounded cognition theory (Barsalou, 2008) and sensory marketing frameworks (Krishna, 2012), visual exposure to appealing food stimuli automatically triggers sensorimotor simulations of eating. When consumers view an imaginative food display or high-definition culinary depiction, their working memory simulates the taste, mouthfeel, and visceral pleasure of ingestion. The ATCF quantifies the output of this spontaneous mental simulation, registering the intensity of anticipated hedonic gratification before any physical consumption occurs.

4. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)

In Ajzen's (1991) Theory of Planned Behavior, specific attitudes toward a behavior directly predict behavioral intentions and subsequent actions. The ATCF adheres strictly to Ajzen's principle of compatibility: rather than measuring a broad attitude toward an abstract category (e.g., “attitude toward candy” or “attitude toward the store”), it measures the precise behavioral attitude toward consuming the specific food item, thereby maximizing its predictive power for downstream consumption behaviors.

Validity

The psychometric validity of the ATCF scale has been substantiated across multiple laboratory experiments and field settings:

Content and Face Validity

The three items—likable, enjoyable, and pleasurable—directly mirror the universal lexical and psychological definitions of hedonic food valuation. Expert review in consumer research confirms that the semantic differential pairings adequately represent the construct space of sensory and affective food appraisal without introducing confounding utilitarian dimensions such as healthiness, nutrition, or affordability.

Convergent Validity

In structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the ATCF exhibits robust convergent validity:

• Factor Loadings: Standardized factor loadings across all three items consistently exceed $lambda = .85$, and frequently surpass $.90$ ($p < .001$), demonstrating that the items share an overwhelming proportion of common variance.
• Average Variance Extracted (AVE): Reported AVE estimates for the ATCF scale consistently surpass $.80$, well above the conventional $.50$ threshold established by Fornell and Larcker (1981). This establishes that the latent construct accounts for over 80% of the variance in its indicator items.

Discriminant Validity

The scale demonstrates clear empirical separation from related yet theoretically distinct constructs:

• Attitude Toward the Display / Retailer: The square root of the AVE for the ATCF reliably exceeds its inter-construct correlations with general display aesthetics, retailer trust, and brand familiarity.
• Perceived Product Quality: While hedonic attitude is correlated with perceived quality ($r \approx .45 – .60$), factor analyses demonstrate that items load onto distinct factors, confirming that consumers differentiate between functional/objective excellence and personal hedonic eating anticipation.
• Fornell-Larcker Criterion & HTMT: Modern validation using the Heterotrait-Monotrait ratio of correlations (HTMT) yields values substantially below the conservative $.85$ ceiling, verifying stringent discriminant validity.

Predictive and Nomological Validity

The ATCF exhibits strong predictive utility within consumer behavior models:

• Purchase Intentions: In Keh et al. (2021), ATCF strongly and positively predicted purchase intentions ($eta > .50, p < .001$).
• Mediation Pathways: Bootstrapped mediation analyses confirm that ATCF significantly mediates the effect of imaginative product displays on willingness to buy and willingness to pay a price premium. When consumers perceive a food presentation as imaginative and creative, the resulting elevation in consumption attitude drives the commercial success of the product.

Reliability

The ATCF scale demonstrates exceptional internal consistency across diverse empirical investigations and experimental conditions:

Internal Consistency

• Cronbach’s Alpha ($\alpha$): Across the empirical studies reported by Keh et al. (2021) and subsequent replications in food marketing, the scale yields Cronbach’s alpha values consistently ranging between .91 and .96. These values reflect superior internal consistency, well above the recommended academic benchmark of $.70$ for exploratory research and $.80$ for confirmatory research.
• Composite Reliability (CR): Structural equation modeling confirms composite reliability values routinely exceeding .92, affirming that the three indicators reliably measure the underlying latent construct without excessive measurement error.
• Inter-Item Correlations: Inter-item Pearson correlation coefficients ($r$) typically fall between $.75$ and $.88$, demonstrating that while the items are tightly unified around the hedonic core, they are not completely redundant.

Test-Retest Stability

Because the ATCF is designed primarily as a state-based evaluative measure of immediate hedonic reaction to a stimulus, test-retest reliability across long time intervals is naturally subject to changes in visceral state (such as hunger, satiety, and sensory-specific satiety). However, in controlled laboratory conditions assessing repeated exposures without intervening consumption or metabolic shifts, short-term stability coefficients remain high ($r > .80$).

Factor Analysis

Both exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) verify that the ATCF is an impeccably unidimensional instrument.

Exploratory Factor Analysis

When subjected to principal axis factoring or principal component analysis with unconstrained extraction criteria:

• A single dominant factor emerges with an eigenvalue substantially greater than 1.0 (typically $\lambda_1 > 2.50$).
• The primary factor accounts for 82% to 89% of the total variance across the three items.
• Secondary eigenvalues fall far below 0.35, exhibiting a sharp scree plot break after the first component and verifying the absence of multi-dimensionality.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Model Fit

In structural equation modeling frameworks, the measurement model for the ATCF exhibits outstanding fit indices when modeled as a three-indicator single latent variable:

• Standardized Factor Loadings:
  • Dislikable / Likable: $lambda = .88 – .94$
  • Unenjoyable / Enjoyable: $lambda = .90 – .96$
  • Unpleasurable / Pleasurable: $lambda = .89 – .95$
• Model Fit Indices: When embedded within broader structural models (such as display perception $\rightarrow$ ATCF $\rightarrow$ purchase intention), overall models demonstrate excellent fit: $\chi^2/df < 2.5$, Comparative Fit Index (CFI) $ge .98$, Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) $ge .97$, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) $le .05$, and Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) $le .03$.

Instrument / Measurement Tool

The technical parameters and administration specifications of the Attitude Toward Consuming the Food scale are summarized below:

• Instrument Name: Attitude Toward Consuming the Food (ATCF)
• Construct Measured: Anticipated hedonic and affective evaluation of consuming a specified food item
• Instrument Type: Self-report psychometric questionnaire
• Scale Format: Semantic differential scale
• Number of Items: 3 bipolar item pairs
• Response Continuum: 7-point semantic differential scale (ranging from 1 = negative anchor to 7 = positive anchor; neutral midpoint = 4)
• Target Population: General consumer population, adult shoppers, experimental study participants (adaptable for adolescent cohorts)
• Administration Modality: Paper-and-pencil, online survey platforms (e.g., Qualtrics, Gorilla, Prolific), mobile in-store intercepts, or laboratory computer terminals
• Estimated Completion Time: 15 to 30 seconds
• Scoring Protocol: Individual item responses are scored from 1 to 7. Because all items are presented with the negative pole on the left (1) and the positive pole on the right (7), no reverse scoring is required. The overall ATCF index is computed as the arithmetic mean of the three items:
  
  $$\text{ATCF Index} = \frac{\text{Likable} + \text{Enjoyable} + \text{Pleasurable}}{3}$$
  Higher scores indicate a more positive, favorable hedonic anticipation of consuming the food.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Attitude Toward Consuming the Food scale was published in 2021 by Hean Tat Keh, Di Wang, and Li Yan in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science (Volume 49, Issue 1, pages 117–137), published by Springer. Under standard academic fair use principles, the scale items may be utilized, reproduced, and adapted for non-commercial academic research, empirical theses, and educational purposes without payment of licensing fees, provided that appropriate scholarly attribution is accorded to the original authors and publication (Keh, Wang, & Yan, 2021). Commercial applications, proprietary software integrations, or retail consulting deployments should consult the copyright holder (Springer Nature / Academy of Marketing Science) regarding permissions.

References

• Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T
• Barsalou, L. W. (2008). Grounded cognition. Annual Review of Psychology, 59, 617–645. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093639
• Berridge, K. C., & Kringelbach, M. L. (2015). Pleasure systems in the brain. Neuron, 86(3), 646–664. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2015.02.018
• Eagly, A. H., & Chaiken, S. (1993). The psychology of attitudes. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers.
• Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378101800104
• Holbrook, M. B., & Hirschman, E. C. (1982). The experiential aspects of consumption: Consumer fantasies, feelings, and fun. Journal of Consumer Research, 9(2), 132–140. https://doi.org/10.1086/208906
• Keh, H. T., Wang, D., & Yan, L. (2021). Gimmicky or effective? The effects of imaginative displays on customers' purchase intentions. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 49(1), 117–137. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-020-00741-6
• Krishna, A. (2012). An integrative review of sensory marketing: Engaging the senses to affect perception, judgment and behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 22(3), 332–351. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcps.2011.08.003
• Mehrabian, A., & Russell, J. A. (1974). An approach to environmental psychology. The MIT Press.

13. Items of the Scale (Questionnaire)