Context in food behavior and product experience - a review

Food behavior is modulated by a large variety of contextual effects linked to variables related to physical, social and temporal environments, intrinsic properties of food, and variables characterizing the individual. The effect of environmental variables is modulated by individual variables through a variety of processes including perceptual, attentional, and decisional processes. This review focuses on three main underlying processes at play in contextual effects: cross-modal correspondences, expectations, and priming effects. Contextual variables are interconnected and only specific patterns make sense: the `episode of consumption'. They can be conceptualized as prototypical situations that induce expectations and thus shape the actual product experience. The actual food choice results from both the product experience and individual's motivations.