Determinants of Fast-Food Consumption in Romania: An Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior

Abstract

This study explores drivers of fast-food consumption in Romania using the Theory of Planned Behavior. We analyze 532 responses to an online survey and use partial least squares path modeling to estimate the relationships between the intention to consume fast food and its possible determinants. Our results show that the most significant predictor is the subjective norms (injunctive norms: β = 0.218, p < 0.001; descriptive norms: β = 0.192, p < 0.001). Among the affective and cognitive attitudes, only the latter is statistically significant in predicting the intention (β = 0.088, p = 0.020), while perceived behavioral control is not significantly associated with intention toward fast-food consumption. We explain how our results can help policymakers to design better interventions on public health concerns about fast-food consumption and population obesity, especially children obesity.

Generation Z's Perception of Fast Food's Product Safety, Nutrition, and Health

“…Another study discovered that the young generation's fast food consumption is influenced by interesting marketing strategies of the fast food companies (Mokhtar et al, 2020). While the young generation's fast food consumption is growing, obesity and other foodrelated diseases are rising (Bîlbîie et al, 2021). Li et al (2020) postulate that these energy-dense foods are low in nutrients with a high amount of salt, sugar, and carbohydrates, resulting in overweight, child obesity, high cholesterol, blood sugar spike, and insulin resistance.…”

Food consumption and the Covid-19 pandemic: The role of sustainability in purchasing choices

“…People accumulated food items from the pantry out of fear that they wouldn't have enough food reserves, but more importantly, to avoid leaving the house several times to go shopping. It was then noted that the population inevitably adapted to the new lifestyle by resuming traditional habits such as baking cakes or homemade bread, which many had given up because of the hectic pace of modern life [ 3 , 71 , 72 ].…”

“…General demand for tasty, satisfying, and convenient meals emerged. Therefore, factors that reflect immediate needs appear to ignore concerns about the long-term health risks associated with this consumption mode [ [69] , [70] , [71] ].…”

Win Big with Small: The Influence of Organic Food Packaging Size on Purchase Intention

“…Future research should be built around an overarching theory, such as the theory of planned behavior, which provides a theoretical framework for analyzing the relationship between personal beliefs and behavioral predictions. The theory is also commonly used in research on consumer behavior and can nicely provide a holistic view of consumer behaviour [ 101 , 102 ]. Therefore, combining a more comprehensive model for theoretical construction, as such a theory of planned behaviour can be used as a future research direction.…”