Hypothetical food purchase tasks and eating behavior: A systematized review and future directions

Findings from hypothetical purchase tasks have significant implications for clinical and public health applications. Despite this potential, research using food purchase tasks to assess the reinforcing value of food commodities and relations to eating behavior remains limited. In this systematized review, we sought to synthesize the literature on hypothetical food purchase tasks to enhance standardization, methodological rigor, and suggest future directions for expanding application to promising yet untested areas of eating behavior. A literature search was conducted using PubMed and PsycINFO. The 14 qualifying studies identified highlight the variability in hypothetical food purchase tasks applications and provide preliminary evidence of their effectiveness in measuring food demand across diverse populations. Results underscore implications for complementing clinical assessments and informing intervention efforts. Results also highlight the capacity of food purchase tasks to differentiate demand across specific food stimuli, experimental manipulability, and sensitivity to variations in food demand. Further, results demonstrate convergent validity between demand indices and other validated measures of reinforcing value and eating-related measures (e.g., progressive ratio schedule tasks, binge eating). Heterogeneity in application and reporting across studies could influence results and interpretation, but also demonstrate robust generality in applications. Standardization in administration, analysis, and reporting may enhance rigor and reproducibility.