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Updated: Oct 13, 2026

Assessment of Social Transmission of Food Preferences Behaviors
Published on: January 25, 2018
Social-cognitive determinants of nutrition behavior among supermarket food shoppers: a structural equation analysis
E S Anderson1, R A Winett, J R Wojcik
1Center for Research in Health Behavior, Department of Psychology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg 24061, USA. eileen@vt.edu
Abstract:
A social-cognitive model of nutrition behavior (A. Bandura, 1997) was tested using structural equation modeling of data from 307 food shoppers recruited from 5 supermarkets in Southwest Virginia. The shoppers were participating in the baseline phase of an ongoing nutrition promotion program. As part of the evaluation, data were collected on the self-efficacy and outcome-expectations components of social-cognitive theory as well as on food purchases and intake. The structural analyses presented here support the social-cognitive model. Self-efficacy, physical outcome expectations, age, socioeconomic status, and number of children were important predictors of nutrition behavior among shoppers. Implications for interventions using social-cognitive variables to improve the nutritional content of food purchases and intake are discussed.
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