Attitudes, norms, intentions and hedonic responses in the selection of low salt bread in a longitudinal choice experiment

A total of 61 subjects selected a type of bread twice a week, 15 times in all, to be used in their families at home. Four bread types were available: white, wheat, rye and sour rye, each with two sodium chloride levels (normal salt = NS, low salt = LS, half of the normal level). The subjects' attitudes, norms and buying intentions concerning the LS bread were measured at the beginning and at the end of the experimental period. The data were used to test the feasibility of the Fishbein model for the prediction of buying intention and actual selection. In addition, hedonic responses to the breads were measured. The LS bread was selected in 32-39% of cases in all, depending on the bread type. However, there were large individual differences. The proportion of LS breads chosen decreased during the experimental period for all the four bread types. In accordance with this, buying intentions, attitudes and hedonic responses were less favorable to the LS breads by the end of the experiment. Low salt content was best accepted in sour rye breads. The Fishbein model predicted 38% of the buying intentions and 21% of the actual selections (end measurements). When the hedonic response was inserted into the model, the values were improved to 52 and 32%, respectively. It is concluded that the Fishbein model is a useful frame of reference for human food selection studies, and that its predictive power in this particular field of behavior appears to improve substantially when the hedonic response is included in the model.