Some choice theories compared in the light of the emotion/cognition controversy

 PLG Weijzen (1,2), C de Graaf (1), GB Dijksterhuis (2,3)

1 Wageningen University, Division of Human Nutrition, The Netherlands;

2 Wageningen University and Research Centre, Agrotechnology and Food Innovations, The Netherlands;

3 Marketing science, Faculty of Economics, University of Groningen, the Netherlands

 pascalle.weijzenwur.nl

Background: The currently often used models to explain food choice behaviour, like the Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1991), the Health Belief Model (Janz and Becker, 1984), and the transtheoretical model of behaviour change (Prochaska and DiClemente, 1992), consider attitudes as stable and cognitively based predictors for behaviour. However, attitudes are usually dependent on the accessibility of information, which is circumstance-dependent

Promising ‘new’ theories: In prospect theory (Tversky and Kahneman, 1974) it is suggested that when people make decisions under conditions of uncertainty, they use readily accessible shortcuts (heuristics) to assess the value of outcomes. This may lead to miscalculation of the outcomes. Similarly, individuals tend to undervalue future rewards of current decisions. This implies that, often, direct hedonic rewards (affectively mediated) are preferred over delayed rewards (cognitively mediated).

Beside the level of accessibility of information, the level of involvement with an issue seems to determine how decisions come about. The level of involvement is mainly determined by the motivation to reflect about an issue. The elaboration likelihood model (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986) describes that a high level of involvement with an issue leads to the use of cognitive information in decision-making, while a low level of involvement leads to the use of affective information.

Conclusion: To determine if these theories extend the value of the existing theories to explain food choice behaviour, we should investigate when food choices are mainly driven by affective versus cognitive factors. As reported behaviour does not always reflect actual behaviour, this must ideally be measured in observational studies. That way, we can get more insight in when individuals are susceptible to acting against their directly perceived self-interest, which will help to develop better tools for nutrition-advice.

Key words: emotion/cognition controversy, prospect theory, choice, attitudes

References

Ajzen I (1991) The theory of planned behaviour. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 50: 179-211

Janz N and Becker MH (1984) The health belief model: a decade later. Health Education Quarterly 11: 1-47

Petty RE and Cacioppo JT (1986) Communication and Persuasion: central and peripheral routes to attitude change. New-York: Springer-Verlag

Prochaska JO and DiClemente CC (1983) Stages and processes of self-change in smoking: toward an integrative model of change. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 51: 390-395

Tversky A and Kahneman D (1974) Judgment under uncertainty: heuristics and biases. Science 185: 1124-1131