Abstract:
Individual food choices are complex and dynamic, varying depending on the context. To understand these complexities, a context-specific study was conducted to analyse food choices among restaurant consumers in Takoradi, Ghana. The study utilized a cross-sectional research design based on the positivist paradigm of social science research and a multi-stage sampling procedure. A total of 519 restaurant consumers were interviewed from October 27th to November 29th, 2021, to collect data on their food choices and the factors that affect them. The data was processed and analysed using IBM SPSS Statistic version 27. The analysis included descriptive statistics such as frequencies and pie charts, inferential statistics such as the Chi-square Test of Independence, Independent Samples T-Test, One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Binary Logistic Regression Analysis, and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). The results showed that the main reason for eating out was for family and friends’ gatherings and that cleanliness was the main criterion for choosing a restaurant, although this varied by restaurants and respondents. The results also showed that sensory and physiological factors were the main reasons for food choices and that chicken and rice were the most popular main dishes and accompaniments eaten, respectively. Moreover, the results indicated that respondents' knowledge, mood/emotion, and access were significant predictors of food choices. It is recommended that restaurant operators should target the family and friends’ market and provide nutritional information on their dishes.
