Clean Eating: Conceptualization, Scale Development, and Validation
Exploring the Clean Eating phenomenon in a Lifestyle context
University of Groningen
Faculty of Business & Economics
by
Clean Eating: Conceptualization, Scale Development, and Validation
Exploring the Clean Eating phenomenon in a Lifestyle context
MSc. Thesis Marketing Management Student: A.E. (Niki) Gerards
Student number: S2712881 Date: August, 2018
MSc. Marketing Management Faculty of Economics and Business University of Groningen
ABSTRACT
Introducing the ‘Clean Eating’ phenomenon to marketing literature, surprising little prior research is performed on customers attitudes towards clean nutrition and no comprehensive or empirical study has examined the Clean eating construct before. This study addresses the necessity to conceptualize this construct. The main contribution to literature are the conceptualization of the clean eating construct, the develop and validation of the first measurement scale for Clean eating and in addition, this study propose a definition for the term ‘Clean eating’ and the ‘Clean eating lifestyle’.
This paper consists of two studies: In Study 1. a literature review is presented and a qualitative exploratory study is performed. Based on these studies, this paper is the first to conceptualize clean eating, proposes a conceptual framework and definitions for the terms clean eating and clean eating lifestyle. Study 2 starts with the development of the Clean eating measurement scale. Where items are generated and pre-tested on concept validity. This process is followed by a scale purification and a validation process, by conducting an Exploratory Factor analysis, Partial Confirmatory Factor analyses and a Confirmatory Factor analysis.
In Study 1. empirical results reveal properties that illustrate that Clean eating is a holistic construct that is conceptualized in a lifestyle context. The clean eating lifestyle, can be perceived as a new ideology and a long term solution to health and well-being. The concept of ‘Clean Eating’ analyses the lifestyle beyond the decision making process and found four underlying mechanisms: Food naturalness (i.e,)food choice, natural sourcing (i.e. well-sourced), Food Literacy (i.e, planning, preparing, cooking, prepping), Mindfulness (i.e. mindful food intake and disposal).
In Study 2. a Clean Eating measurement scale is developed by using standard scale construction techniques, resulting in 21 item scale after several iterations. The EFA revealing that the model solution for the Clean Eating scale consisted of three subfactors (Factor 1. Clean Nutrition, Factor 2. Health, Nutrition, Food Literacy, Factor 3. Well-sourced) are found to have good model reliability and internal consistency (alpha= ,893) of the whole model and for each subscale. In addition, these subscales are a good fit with the results of Study 1. Unfortunately, results from the CFA indicate that the three factor model scores are slightly under the accepted threshold and do not convey sufficient variance for the items to converge into a single construct. This study should be continues with iterative CFAs after assessing and refining the model items.
TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTIONTHEORETICAL FOUNDATION 2. Literature review
2.1. Literature review of existing concepts related to clean nutrition 2.1.1 Clean eating
2.1.2 Food Naturalness
2.1.3 Food processing and additives 2.1.4 Natural Sourcing
2.1.5 Naturalness Claims 2.2 Conclusion
STUDY I: CONCEPTUALIZATION OF THE CLEAN EATING CONSTRUCT 3. Components of the Clean Eating construct
3.1 Methodology 3.1.1 Data collection
3.2 The Clean Eating construct 3.3.1 Food Naturalness 3.3.2 Natural Sourcing 3.3.3 Relationship with food 3.3.4 Mindfulness
3.3.5 Clean Eating Lifestyle 3.4 Motives for Eating Clean 3.4.1 Personal Health
3.4.2 Protecting the Environment 3.5 Results of Study 1.
STUDY II: SCALE DEVELOPMENT & VALIDATION 4. Scale Development
4.1 Methodology 4.1.1 Item Generation
4.1.3 Online quantitative survey 4.1.4 Study Population
5. Scale Validation Process 5.1 Methodology
5.1.1 Validation Process
5.1.2 Measurement Scales of Related Constructs 5.2 Results of Study 2
5.2.1 Demographic data
5.2.2 Scale endorsement rates and validity 5.2.3 Exploratory Factor Analysis
5.2.4 Partial Confirmatory Factor Analysis 5.2.5 Confirmatory Factor Analysis
DISCUSSION
MANAGERIAL RELEVANCE
IMPLICATION
FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS
CONCLUSION
REFERENCES APPENDIX
A: New Developed Measurement Scale - 27 item pool B: Final Clean Eating (CE) Scale - 21-item pool
C: Related Measurement Scale item pool - (ECS, H-RAS, SWLS)
D: Literature review of existing measurement scales of related constructs - Table E: Demographic information and additional data - Table
INTRODUCTION
"Eating clean" is a concept that stresses on healthy, whole, unprocessed foods (Euromonitor, 2018). Although the phrase is relatively new, the principles are not. The principles of eating clean date back to the socially conscious healthy food movement of the 1960s, who persistently avoid processed foods for the sake of moral and societal values (rather than health and nutrition issues)(Stevens, 2014). This food movement was associated with natural cure believers, religious minorities and other unconventional groups embodying philosophical and political ideals, beliefs and culinary practices far from mainstream (Miller, 2017). At the time the majority of consumers showed strong preference for processed foods, longer shelf life of food, food security and nutritional security (Weaver et al., 2014) which lead to the introduction of the commercially processed foods in the 1950s in developed countries. These strong beliefs have developed into a growing market of the organic foods in the 1990s (Dimitri, 2000) and the start of an array of more practical concerns to the slaughter of animals, intensive production as well as the application of fertilizers and pesticides in the food industry (Kenner, 2008). In the 1980s, broader support for natural foods took hold and the past fifteen years have seen an explosion (Miller, 2017). The natural foods landscape of the twenty first century is different from the 1870s, 1920s and even the 1970s. In modern societies, people are much more aware of everything they eat. Consumers want nutrition that has some functionality for their bodies and their health. Naturalness nowadays seems to be
developing new products (Kleef Van et al., 2005b). There is no room for a ‘one-size-fits-all’ mentality (Nielsen, 2015).
Clean nutrition will remain a key trend for the food industry in 2018 and beyond (Foodingredientsfirst, 2018a). The market is expected to continue to grow, as more and more consumers become aware of the benefits of clean nutrition. Clean nutrition has increased the demand for fast innovations as the
marketplace responds to consumer trends (Foodingredientsfirst, 2018a). Therefore, it is critical for businesses to respond to customers expectations of clean products and to understand consumers motives for this behavior (Foodingredients, 2017b).
Despite its promise, clean nutrition has not been developed as a field of research and a number of issues hinder progress. First, Clean eating has not been clearly conceptualized and, thus, there is still no settled idea of what Eating Clean actually is. A theoretical development can be facilitated by a
conceptualization. It is difficult to elaborate on hypotheses, to test relationships between clean nutrition and other concepts if the meaning of this construct remains unclear. In addition, to develop reliable measures that adequately represent Clean Eating if the concept remains vague.There are many different interpretations of what ‘Eat Clean’ entails, these are provided by market trend reports and not backed up by consumers behavior research or theory. Leaving the interpretation as rather subjective for consumers and food practitioners. Even though the market has responded to the trend with clean product label and product line extensions. No attention in academic literature has been dedicated to this phenomenon. Suggesting that there is an excessive gap in literature related to this topic. To date there is not an established theoretical conceptualization of the clean eating construct nor an objective definition known of what it means to ‘Eat Clean’. This study stresses the need for addressing attention to clean nutrition. This study will attempt to look beyond the micro level of consumer’s individual decision making in order to advancing current understanding, antecedents, consequences and the meaning of the clean eating construct.
This study addresses this research gap in scientific literature by being the first to research this phenomenon. The main contributions of this study are (1) the attempt to clarify the conceptualization of Clean Eating, (2) the development of the Clean Eating (CE) measurement scale, (3) propose a definition for the term clean eating. A definition and a delineation of the ‘Clean Eating’ concept can fundamentally improve understanding. In addition, this study could contribute to consumer behaviour and marketing literature by outlining key behavioural aspects and motives for eating clean in a lifestyle context. This article is structured as follows. A literature review of related concepts is the starting point of this paper, followed by qualitative exploratory research. On this basis, Study 1. is dedicated to the
THEORETICAL FOUNDATION FOR THE CLEAN EATING CONSTRUCT
2. Literature review
In order to address the gap in literature, this empirical study will attempt to conceptualize the ‘Clean eating’ construct. In order to assess this constructs uniqueness a literature review in the field of nutritional cleanness is performed. This review briefly discusses previous studies and evaluates the choices of other scholars to a certain extent.
2.1 Literature review of existing concepts related to clean nutrition
A literature search has been conducted by investigating concepts that are related to clean nutrition. Prior studies were found (See Appendix C.) with keyword or combinations in the title of the abstract. This 1 review is confined to the English language and focused on peer reviewed empirical studies that were mostly published in the last six years (2012-2018), to enable an overview of the latest studies. To ensure that relevance of the articles in the review were included journals such as the Food Quality and
Preference, Appetite, Environmental Nutrition, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of International Consumer Marketing. The papers had to be academic studies published in journals. This literature review evaluates the research directions in prior studies related to the Clean eating construct. By means of paragraphs this review will briefly discuss various sub themes in describing the common concepts of Eating Clean . 2
2.1.1 Clean Eating
Currently, no peer reviewed empirical study has been performed that researches the concept of clean eating, nor has any researcher proposed a definition for the term. Clean eating is only mentioned in the title of an academic article (Smith & Paladino, 2010), but this Austrian article investigates consumers motivation towards the purchase of organic foods. Spencer (2014) mentions the term eating clean, in his study that investigated manifold dietary discourses, food consumption and preparation practices related to MMA fighting. The article demonstrated how ‘eating clean’ involves a perception of certain foods and supplements as clean. Which does not resemble the clean eating dietary practice that is studies in this paper. In marketing research, the clean eating label is starting to get more attention from scholars, and respond to the market trend of naturalness claims on food products. These relatively small amount of
1Keywords: clean eating’, ‘clean nutrition’, ‘naturalness’, natural food’, ‘natural food movement’, ‘minimally processed’‘organic’, ‘plant-based eating’, ‘wholesome foods’, ‘naturalness claim’, ‘clean label’
studies focus on the conceptualization and definition of the term clean label. No attention has been paid to analyse the term clean or the concept of eating clean in these studies. A review of existing studies on the clean label trend are presented later in this chapter.
There are plenty of non academic journals, websites, cookbooks, fitness magazines and food related blogs that attempt to research this phenomenon. Not one publication is found that is remotely close to conceptualizing the clean eating construct. There exist many one pager articles that discuss the growing popularity of the concept of clean eating and healthful diet (For example: Dennett, 2016; Stevens, 2014). But most articles that are published in online market research platforms address the clean eating as a major current trend (Foodingredientsfirst, 2018a, 2018b, 2017a; Euromonitor, 2018). Other articles attempt to conceptualize clean eating (The Sun health and fitness section, 2018; Globalnews.ca, 2017), or set simple guidelines for clean eating (Fitnessmagazine.com, 2018; Cleaneatingmag.com, 2015).
Recently, more articles in recognized newspapers are published on Orthorexia and focus on the 3 detrimental effects of eating clean (The Guardian lifestyle section, 2018; Independent, 2018). The increasing amount of these negative publicity is likely be caused by the unclarity, misunderstanding or misuse of clean eating dietary practices. Many articles and blogs are dedicated to this misinterpretation of eating clean and the clean eating lifestyle (Vogue’s Health and Fitness section, 2017; Independent lifestyle section, 2015). An article published by the Independent.co.uk stated that: “While the term is heavily used in social media, there has been any agreement on what it really means or any comprehensive studies examining the potential benefits of a clean eating lifestyle as a whole”. The present study supports this notion. It can be concluded that the clean eating concept is unclear, misinterpreted, and often misused in practice. There is a necessity to properly study this construct and address this literature gap with a first attempt to conceptualize this theoretical construct. This literature review will continue by exploring concepts that are related to the clean eating construct.
2.1.2 Food Naturalness
The construct ‘naturalness’ is a used starting point for investigating food content and processing. The concept ‘naturalness’ has received much attention over the years in various academic disciplines, but it has only relatively recently emerged in the field of academic marketing. In recent years customer behavioural studies have dedicated attention to natural entities related to preference for natural foods (Dickson-Spillmann, Siegrist, Keller, 2011a; Rozin et al., 2004, 2012; Li & Chapman, 2012; Amos et al., 2014; Binninger, 2015; Berry, Burton, & Howlett, 2017; Liu, Hooker, Parasidi, & Sions, 2017; McFadden
& Huffman, 2017; Prada, Garrido, & Rodriques, 2017; Skubisz, 2017; Moscato & Machin, 2018) and the preference of natural food products in purchase decisions (Rozin, 2005, 2006; Rozin, Fischler, &
Schields-Argeles, 2012; Amos, Petine, Hawkins, & Davis, 2014; Li & Chapman, 2012; Hemmerling et al., 2016). While much less attention is given to the importance of food naturalness for consumers (Roman, Sanchez-Silles, Siegrist, 2017) explanations for a preference for ‘natural’ food products (Rozin, 2005; Li & Chapman, 2012; Liu et al., 2017; Evans et al., 2010), or the meaning of food naturalness (Rozin et al., 2004; Rozin, 2005, 2006). Food scientists lack knowledge of consumers understanding of what is perceived to be natural and what across a broad range of foods and additives meets with
consumers acceptance. This might suggest a reason why no research has been performed to define food cleanness, that combines natural aspects of food and food processing.
2.1.3 Food processing and additives
While there is considerable peer reviewed literature on consumers attitudes towards novel food
technologies or biotechnology (Hansen, Holm, Frewer, Robinson, & Sandoe, 2003) and the willingness to consume food produced by novel technologies (Lahteenmaki et al., 2002; Lusk et al., 2015; Rollin et al., 2011). The issue of added food ingredients and the way food is manufactured has received surprisingly less attention in scientific journals (For example, Devcich, Pedersen, & Petrie, 2007; Eiser, Coulson, & Eiser, 2002; Kajanne & Pirttila-Backman, 1996; Raats & Shepherd, 1996). As consumers have become more interested and concerned in food production methods and components of food products (Asioli, 2017; Meneses et al., 2014), and now more than ever are consumers aware of the implications of the products they consumer and question the personal health, environmental and social consequences of food production (Asioli et al, 2014). Concerns over food additives, content and processing receive little attention in literature (Gregory et al., 2000). Studies have been performed on consumers concern about the heavy use of pesticides in the conventional and intensive agricultural practices (Aktar, Sengupta, & Chowdhury, 2009; Kenner, 2008), the use of artificial ingredients, additives or colourants (Tarnavoglyi, 2003; Martins et al., 2016), and the adoption of controversial technologies like GMOs (Grunert, Bredahl, & Scholderer, 2003). Although, studies have explored reactions to genetically modified foods and other new technologies, they may have underestimated the importance of the meaning of natural as a cause of reactions to food technologies (Rozin et al., 2012).
2.1.4 Natural Sourcing
synthetically produced fertilisers and chemicals” (Lookie et al.,, 2002 The organic market has seen enormous growth in the 1990’s (Dimitri, 2000). Several studies have looked into the so called ‘organic’ consumers (Dimitri, et al., 2012; Wier et al., 2001; Chinnici et al., 2002) with regard to decision making (Davies et al., 1995; Grybowska-Brzezisnka et al., 2017, Vindigni et al., 2002) and purchasing behavior (Grunert and Juhl, 1995; Hill and Lynchehaun, 2002; Hutchins and Greenhalgh, 1997; Magnusson et al., 2001; Makatouni, 2002; McEachern and McClean, 2002; Paul, Rana, 2012; Padel and Foster, 2005, Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2005). Consumer attitudes towards organic products has received much attention in marketing literature (Harper et al., 2002; Torjusen et al., 1999; Schleenbecker and Hamm, 2013; Tregear et al., 1994 Spiller et al., 2015; Zagata, 2012; Davies et al., 1995).
Meanwhile, studies have been performed on the quality of organic food (Dangour, et al., 2009; Bourn et al., 2002; Worthington, 2001; Caris-Veyrat, 2004; Ren et al., 2001) and compare various aspects of organic and conventionally produced foods (Yiridoe et al., 2007; Bonti-Ankomah, 2006) in terms of consumers willingness-to-pay (Mcfadden & Huffman, 2018; Liu et al., 2017; Wolf, 2002; Thogersen et al., 2015;) Notable is that, much less attention is dedicated to food patterns and dietary quality associated with organic food consumption (Torjusen et al., 2012; Whittaker, 2015), or the effects of organic food on health (Chhabra, et al., ,2013; Brantsæter, et al., 2016; Cardozo, et al., 2013; Hussain et al., 2015). Surprisingly, food naturalness intentions and behavior related to the consumption of organic foods have received much less attention in this field of literature (Backstrom et al., 2004; Urala & Lahteenmaki, 2007; Mouta, de Sa, Menezes, & Melo, 2016; Onwezen & Bartels, 2013; McFadden et al., 2017). Consumer motivations with respect to organic produce are the emerging interest for researchers. Some studies have been conducted to research consumers motivations for purchasing organic food (Chinnici et al., 2002, Grunert and Juhl, 1995, Hutchins and Greenhalgh, 1997, Makatouni, 2002, Padel and Foster, 2005, Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2005).
2.1.5 Naturalness claims
This study suggests that the clean eating construct is associated with naturalness claims and the clean label trend. Therefore, this literature review will briefly discuss the research directions in prior naturalness claims studies. Since natural claims of food products is a relatively new field, extant literature has largely focused on the consequential influence of the food label (Ares et al., 2011; Thompson, 2011; Warde, 2016). But recently more attention is dedicated to natural claims on food labels, labelling regarding to natural ingredients and additives (Osborne, 2015). While much less is known on consumers valuation of sustainable labels (Van Loo et al., 2014). Or even what consumers associations with all natural food labels (Dominick et al., 2017). Only recently, have researchers endeavored to define natural claims on food labels and the effects of naturalness claims on perceptions of naturalness (Lunardo & Saintives, 2013; Woodyard, 2016). Despite increasing use of the terms “all natural” and “clean”, “without additives or preservatives” , and “whole grain”, which are comprised the most common claims made for new food products. Scholarly enquiry into defining them or examining how it differs from similar relational terms as “organic”, “green”, “fairtrade” has been limited. The increasing number of studies that are dedicated to naturalness claims respond to the unprecedented concerns about lengthy lists of ingredients on food labels, that have had a considerable impact upon what is deemed to be acceptable in terms of cleanness. The term “Clean label ” has been increasingly used in the broader academic marketing literature and 4 consumer engagement has been explored as an expanded domain of the relationship marketing. Despite the increasing market shift towards products containing a clean label, little attention is dedicated to the clean claim. Some studies have tried to make sense of the ‘clean label’ trend (Demeritt, 2018; Asoili et al., 2017; Joppen, 2006; Busken, 2013; Varela & Fiszman, 2013) and consumer understanding of clean labels (Schroeder, 2016, Gelski, 2016). But none of these studies have paid any attention to the meaning of the word clean in food consumption, nor tried to conceptualize the construct.
2.2 Conclusion
The literature review, indicates that many prior studies have been performed on concepts that are related to clean eating. Some fields(i.e organic sourcing) have received more attention over the years, while others have only recently become relevant to marketing literature. The meaning of the term naturalness, clean and minimally processed are emerging interest for researchers as it is unclear to what extend products and brands are credible when they make natural claims, and what level of processing is
acceptable to the consumer. Up to now, no real attention in academic literature has been dedicated to the clean eating phenomenon. Suggesting that there is an excessive gap in literature related to this topic. This study stresses the need for addressing attention to clean nutrition, as it is a market that is expected to grow extensively in the next years. To date there is not an established theoretical conceptualization of the clean eating construct nor an objective definition known of what it means to ‘Eat Clean’. This study will continue with a first attempt to research this phenomenon and propose a conceptual framework for this construct (Study 1.)
STUDY I: CONCEPTUALIZATION OF THE CLEAN EATING CONSTRUCT
3. Components of the Clean Eating construct
The aim of Study 1. is to find the underlying components of the eating clean construct. In an attempt to fundamentally improve the understanding of the phenomenon and clearly delineate the boundaries of the clean eating concept in relation to overlapping concepts.
3.1 Methodology
As the first step in addressing the gap in literature is concerning the clean eating construct, an empirical investigation was undertaken to gather data on the clean eating construct. The present research critically synthesizes, adding conceptual clarity the Clean Eating as a construct by delimiting its scope. This study attempts to understand the factors that influence natural food preferences and conceptualizes CE as a lifestyle. This study conceptualized clean consumption through the statements of respondents that were selected in the qualitative exploratory research.
3.1.1 Data collection
A qualitative exploratory study is conducted to specify the construct and its link with clean eating behavior. Following recent scale development work (Zboja, Clark, & Haytko, 2016), the exploratory interviews method was used to uncover key principles of a Clean Eating lifestyle. In this qualitative research, three semi-structured interview were conducted to gather data on the component of the behavior in order to conceptualize Clean Eating. The participants of these interviews are selected according to their commitment to adapting a clean lifestyle. To reduce bias and minimize the influence of social
interactions, the choice is made to perform the interviews individually and face-to-face. The interviews last approximately one hour until no new topics arises. Interviews are held in a quiet setting and
behavior, and various actions related to this lifestyle. Interviews commenced with open questions which aimed to elicit background information in relation to the clean eating lifestyle: “How would you define Clean Eating?”; or “What are considered main motives for eating clean?”. Topics discussed are; main health issues, barriers and challenges to eat clean, and motives for adopting to this lifestyle. Interviewees have various profiles in terms of age, nationality (Dutch and Canadian), and (educational) background. The final sample consists of 3 women aged between 27 and 59, of whom the first interviewee is a New York Times bestselling author of the Eating Clean series. The second participant is a health coach and authors of other Clean Eating publications. In final, participants is a self-expressed clean eaters. The interviews were recorded and transcribed to obtain the corpus used for the content analysis (See Appendix F).
3.3 The Clean Eating Construct
This chapter makes an attempt to bridge the gap in literature by explicating the definition of the theoretical construct and try to operationalize and measure it. In this part of the paper clean eating is described as a holistic construct, with properties of the components, interactions and their relationship as a whole. Study 1. proposes a demarcated description of the concept. The findings from the explorative qualitative research will be presented per theme. 5
3.3.1 FOOD NATURALNESS
The cleanness of nutrition is of major importance to Clean Eaters, food that is minimally processed and grown as close to in nature as possible. CE avoid foods that are associated with major human
interventions such as, GE manipulation, additives, preservatives, colourings, refined sugars and saturated fats.
--‘ It is about eating less or avoid-- refined grains, pesticides, additives, preservatives, unhealthy fats, large amounts of sugar and salt, and highly manufactured foods which have an extensive ingredients list. In simpler terms, it is what people consider to be 'junk food' or 'empty calorie' foods’ - R1
-- ‘I think of these as the minimally-processed, maximal-nutrition foods of the foods we all need more of’. - R2
tubers, legumes (i.e., beans, peas, lentils), nuts, healthy oils. Meanwhile, 3) strongly minimizing the intake of all animal-products: dairy (i.e., skim, low fat, and whole milk; cream, ice cream, yogurt, and cheese), eggs, fish, meat (o.r., chicken, turkey, beef, and pork) and 4) minimizing/avoiding less healthy plant based foods, the kinds that are processed (i.e., fruit juices, refined grains; pasta, white rice, processed bread, cereal, processed potatoes).
-’ It’s about eating more-- vegetables, fruits, whole grains, good quality proteins and healthy fats’. - R3
Clean eaters focus on nutritional purposes of the food they consume. Food choice attributes that are of high importance to them are: healthfulness, nutritional values, nutrient-richness, naturalness, plant-based origin, sustainable agriculture, satiety level, food quality and taste, rather than convenience, ease of preparation, traditionalism or cost.
As opposed to most diets, in order to eat clean no food group needs to be eliminated as eating clean it is not about giving up one food group or another. It is about giving your body what it needs to thrive. Clean nutrition can be found in any food group, you just have to choose the healthiest options of ingredients.
- ‘ I do not eliminate food groups, but I always choose the most healthy options. I do try to add
plant-based products to every meal, and limit gluten and animal products’. - R2
- ‘ I do not eliminate any food groups, but I limit the intake of gluten- containing products, red-meat and dairy products’.- R3
- ‘ It is not about giving up one food group or another, eating clean is about giving your body what it needs to thrive’ - R1
Clean eaters find supplements only acceptable as a substitute for a food group that you are not allowed to eat. There is a strong believe that all nutrients should be gained from the whole foods you eat through a balanced diet with a wide variety of food ingredients.
- ‘ I do not eliminate food groups, but I always choose the most healthy options. I do try to add plant-based products to every meal, and limit gluten and animal products’. - R1
- ‘ I do not eliminate any food groups, but I limit the intake of gluten- containing products, red-meat and dairy products’.- R2
- ‘ Clean nutrition can be found in any food group, you just have to choose the healthiest options of ingredients. [..] eliminating any food groups which is distinctive for this lifestyle as opposed to diets such as veganisme, a raw food or Atkins diet. -R2
To conclude, nutrition is seen as the fuel of the human body, the energy it needs to function, and therefore need to have some functionality for their bodies and their health. Therefore, CE-ers emphasize on
food group. Thus, the clean eating is adaptable to all diets, allergies or intolerances. The emphasize of eating clean is often translated to a healthy form of a (clean) whole food plant-based diet or in more extreme forms turned into a (clean) vegan diet. Thus, consuming natural ingredients that are minimally processed and wholesome. Meanwhile, choosing the healthiest food options in every food group buy limits or even avoiding the use of animal-based products and refined, pre-packed or processed ingredients.
3.3.2 NATURAL SOURCING
Findings by this study illustrate that eating clean is associated with well-sourcing of food ingredients. Clean eaters make choices for organic food based on the perception that organically produced nutrition contains less chemicals and additives rather than what organic food stands for (i.e. produced through approved methods that protect natural resources, conserve biodiversity). They believe that organic products are safer for consumption, produced in a (more) environmental friendly way, and in nutritional value (depending on the closeness to their natural state). A key finding is that even though Clean Eaters prefer organic produced products. The extent to which they purchase organic food depends on the
availability and their perception of organically meat and dairy industry. Future attention will be dedicated to this topic later in this study.
- ‘ I prefer organic foods and buy them where possible, but certainly not 100%. Not even for people I know for whom money is not an issue ’ - R3
- ‘ We also need to be mindful of how we get that food. Where did it come from’. R1
In addition, Clean eaters favour to buy organic products on local farmers markets. Purchasing at these markets are perceived as positive food experiences, inspirational. Meanwhile supporting the local community. There is a strong preference for products that are in-season, on the perception of better products taste, and beliefs of being grown without too much added human assistance (i.e., pesticides and genetic modification). Products that are in-season are more likely to be locally grown, which reduces the load on our environment due to transport, or “food mileage”.
- ‘ I care a great deal about locally grown products, by buying seasonal products I often buy products from the area’. - R3
- ‘ I only buy ingredients that are in-season. Even though, it is more common for products such as apples and even pumpkins to be available all year round. These products taste better and are least processed if they are seasonally bought’. - R3
To conclude, clean eaters associate organic produced nutrition with being healthier, safer for consumption, higher in nutritional value, of better quality, and produced with methods better for the environment. Clean eaters tend to make choices for organic food on the perception that organically produced nutrition contains less chemicals and additives rather than what organic food stands for (i.e. produced through approved methods that protect natural resources, conserve biodiversity). It is suggested that Clean eaters have a positive attitude towards sustainable agricultural practices, as they perceive these practices as more natural and associated the food with higher dietary quality. Clean eaters do not perceive health and sustainability aspects to be potentially conflicting and thus dietary guidelines that combine both makes sense to them. Yet, health, still matters more- and to more consumers- than sustainability.
3.3.3 HEALTH, NUTRITION & FOOD LITERACY
Clean eaters prioritize personal health, therefore they are knowledgeable of the effects that dietary patterns can have on their body, general health and well-being. Suggesting that clean eaters continuously educate themselves by searching for food related information to improve their nutrition literacy. As a result CE-ers are often highly involved when it comes down to food choices.
- ‘ .. Knowledge is a necessity, but it all starts with recognizing that clean nutrition is your body’s fuel’. - R2
- ‘1. acquire accurate food related knowledge 2. the right mindset. 3. take action. It is all about the degree of involvement in making the right food choices.’. - R2
-‘ Great insights and great tools help us learn not only about our bodies, but about food. Ultimately, that’s my goal; to educate people about food so they can make the choices that are right for their body’. - R1
Food literacy is necessary for clean eaters to successfully adapt to a clean eating lifestyle. Clean eaters understand food in a way that including food skills and practices in order to navigate, engage, and participate within this lifestyle. They have developed food-related skills, are confident are confident in their own cooking ability and level of nutrition knowledge. They possess the skills needed to navigate the food environment- planning and managing, selecting, preparing in order to eat clean and healthy meals.
- ‘ Planning, cooking your own meals and food prepping are certainly key elements of for clean eating behavior’. - R3
There is a strong preference for home cooked meals made from locally sourced, sustainable and recognizable ingredients. Findings indicate that clean eaters home-cook nearly all their daily meals at home and bring their prepared meals on their journeys (i.e. work, social gatherings, holidays). Suggesting that meal planning and meal prepping are frequently used tools by clean eaters to help keep them on a healthy eating track. Clean eating is made into a routine, but it takes time. Findings indicate that it will take a couple of years before this mindset is truly a part of a clean eating dietary pattern and lifestyle.
- ‘ Clean eating is a matter of creating routines, and acquiring the right knowledge, skills and tools’. - R2.
- ‘ …I do not pre-plan my meals on a daily basis, clean eating has become such a routine that everything I do is based on intuition and common sense. This is not the case for my clients, it does take a couple of years before clean eating a truly part of your lifestyle. Pre-planning and
preparing your own food is highly important and a true characteristic of clean eating behavior.’- R2.
The enjoyment of food is seen as of key importance to this lifestyle. Meanwhile, eating clean is perceived challenging in a social environment and when travelling. As, these settings form a treat, clean eaters appear to be over prepared for these kinds of situations (i.e., meal prepping, choosing vegan restaurants, bring whole foods that are difficult to acquire in foreign countries). They establish a sense of self-control in relation to their food intake.
- ‘ When eating out, I often choose the restaurant. In case I eat am invited to dine with friends, I often pre-eat in order to make it easier to keep control over my foods intake and chose wisely’- R2
- ‘.. I always carry food with me, wherever I go. Our car is always stuffed with organic whole grains, nuts and oil when we are on a trip. The type of ingredients that are difficult to find in foreign countries.. Fruits and vegetables I always buy locally’. - R3
and money, help weight control, and control portion sizes. Finally, it is suggested that clean eaters are better able to discriminate between food products and may be more inclined towards new food experiences.
3.3.4 MINDFULNESS
Clean eaters state that food mindfulness for them entails making sure you get all the nutrients your body needs, by monitoring intake or day-to-day energy levels, and by eating a variety of plant-based
ingredients.
- ‘.. it requires attention to detail and a certain attitude’. - R3 - ‘.. it is about prioritizing the role of nutrition in your life’ - R2
In addition, foods that are calorie adequate, satiating, and nutrient sufficient, and the right portion sizes in terms of a well-balanced division of essential nutrients by following the 30/30/40 rule (30% protein, another 30% in healthy fats and 40% with complex carbohydrates of which 20% should be greens and other vegetables and the remaining 20% can be starchy grains or vegetables). Clean eaters tend to eat every 2 ½ to 3 hours to keep blood sugar levels stable and drink plenty of water. If the balance between protein, carbs and fats is right it is difficult to overeat. Suggesting that with a clean plant-based diet you will be able to eat a greater volume of food while taking in the same or fewer calories.
-‘ People always ask me, ‘ I’m eating so much, are you sure this is good for me?’ What they don’t
realize is that this plant-based food is so much lower in calorie density that they can eat a much greater volume of food while taking in the same or fewer amount of calories. - R1
--‘ The meals are filling, but in a comfortable way. A clean way. A way that leaves you feeling light and energized, not ready to slip into a food-coma’,- R1
--‘It is difficult to overeat on whole foods, example red beats you can only eat so much before being stuffed, a clean eater will consume a higher volume of nutrient rich food than any other diet. Your body will give you a signal when you are stuffed. Because you consume healthy foods it doesn’t matter how much your eat. - R3
Findings illustrate that food labels are frequently read in order to check for sources, additives, amount of ingredients and wholesome state of the product, rather than caloric-density. In order to minimize the intake of food additives, Clean eaters try to avoid cans and pre-packed foods and cook with fresh, pure and organic ingredients. Foods processed by the food industry is believed to be dangerous and can not be trusted, the same goes for naturalness claims on food labels.
- ‘If you can’t read it, you just don’t eat it!’ I never buy products that contain more than a few ingredients. - R3
-’ I think that the danger that has proven out already with cleaner products, gluten free products, fat-free etc. Is that they are not to be trusted. The food scientists are still paid enormous sums of money to seduce you and I to buying a cleaner product. But what is the definition of clean? Is it really clean? I don’t think so. If you are duping or tricking the public into thinking that it is clean food when it is not or to think that it is fat free but it is loaded with sugar. How is it going to help? You still need to have the basic knowledge, agency over yourself, food literacy, nutritional literacy, wellness literacy. It is just dangerous, I feel like anything that is coming from big food firma is a lie’. - R1
Clean eaters consume foods that are not packaged, processed or went through a heavy cycle of refining. In other words saving energy, materials, and resources. In addition, eating clean supports the prevention of packaging waste by buying fresh organic ingredients at local farmers markets. Meanwhile, eating clean has a positive effect on the prevention of food waste. Clean eaters pre-plan their meals for the entire week and are thus more likely to reuse ingredients in a variety of dishes. Meal planning and prepping can reduce the amount of food waste, meanwhile save time, energy and money.
- ‘- .. of the top ten things contributing to global greenhouse gasses, pollution, global warming,
and so on, the number one is food waste. I do think that when we eat clean and you eat foods that are not packed, processed, or went through went through such a heavy cycle of refining. You are making less carbon footprint, but also you are making less garbage, less waste and hopefully you are not wasting your food, which is another problem. But I think, also eating a lot of plant-based materials which is part of eating clean. It doesn’t necessarily have to be packaged, or refined or even cooked. So it all contributes to a healthier approach ’- R1
It can be concluded that the concept of mindful consumption is guiding focus of a clean eating approach, it is a core element of this lifestyle. Clean eating concept associates mindfulness with better mental health, taking action to improve dietary quality and facilitate weight management. In addition, the concept of eating clean being mindful of the food's pathway between its origin and your plate. More mindful in consumption may help to reduce carbon footprints in the acquisition, consumption and disposal of food ingredients.
3.3.5 CLEAN EATING LIFESTYLE
addition, they believe that this lifestyle is evolving with a continuous amount of available and new nutrition knowledge, skills and tools to improve their well-being.
- ‘.. Clean eating is a long term solution, a lifestyle not a diet’ - R3
-‘ This is not a crash diet, or about dieting or food restriction, but rather a way of eating the healthiest foods for life’. - R2
- ‘.. I think you can be a vegan, I think you can be Paleo, I think you can diet yourself anyway you want to. But if you are not considering the source, the quality and nutritional value of the food right from the start what good is the diet. I don’t think that a diet is the answer anymore. I think the answer is to look at, and build your nutritional literacy and your food literacy and your environmental literacy. So you understand really what food has the power either to contribute or take away from you’. - R1
In this lifestyle there is room to make mistakes, learn, and grow. People should have a positive relationship with food that is prioritized by the enjoyment of food and focuses on positive food
experiences. Hence, dietary practices should be a part of your lifestyle, it should not be the main priority of life. The importance of not being too strict on your diet nor obsessive is often stated by respondents.
-’ It is important to eat healthfully and put the necessary time, energy, and attention into food, but it should not become one’s whole life. It needs to fit in your life, and be a part of your lifestyle’. - R1
- ‘.. food has to play a role in your life where it supports a healthy lifestyle. Nutrition should not be a main priority in life. Food should give you the energy you need to get the most out of your life. [...] It remains important to live the life you want, do the things that make your happy. Food to fuel your body efficiently..’. - R2
In addition, findings indicate that a clean eating lifestyle emphasizes on improving our overall well-being step by step. CE suggest that health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease of infirmity.
-‘ We do this [eat and live well] to get our lives back, not for it to become our lives. It gives us back our health and energy so we can do the things in life we really love to do.’ - R2.
- ‘.. I agree, in order to live a clean lifestyle you need to eat clean, exercise, sleep well and take care of your body. If this is well balanced it will have a positive effect on your mental and physical well-being.- R3.
-‘ It’s a formula, and what it requires more than anything else is just determination. I just really don’t want my body getting in the way of my doing what I want to do. You know, mentally or physically.’ - R3
To conclude, Clean eating is a way of eating that needs to fit in your life, by transforming their health, habits and relationships with food (i.e., eliminating cravings, improving energy and sleep, relieving medical symptoms and losing weight healthfully and sustainable). They have embraced clean food preferences as a part of their lifestyle, thereby it is suggested that they have established a new ideology, as it is seen as a long term solution to a long and healthy life.
3.4 Motives for Clean Eating
Findings illustrate that health concern is the powerful source for understanding the drivers of consumers’ actions towards changing their eating habits. It is reasonable to believe that commitment to health, self-reevaluation a consumer's readiness to take healthy actions are important determinant of consumer’s attitudes towards eating clean. Clean eaters have stated that their personal health is the main, and
sometimes sole reason changing their dietary patterns to a cleaner version. In this chapter a summary of arguments are presented that are related to motives to eat clean.
3.4.1 PERSONAL HEALTH
There are different personal motives for health that variate in people’s view on life. A major change in a personal lifestyle is often associated with an important life event. For most clean eaters this life event is often the discovery of a high personal risk of the diagnosis of a (chronical) illness.
- ‘ .. as a busy business woman, I was sleep deprived, always low on energy and depressed. By the time I started getting epileptic episodes on a regular basis, the doctor subscribed medicine that made me feel even worse. I quit my job and changed my lifestyle..’ - R2
- ‘ .. doctors subscribe medicine, but they hardly ever have the time to look at nutrition as the
source of their health problems..nor is this part of med school.’ - R2
Clean eaters seek to correct potential imbalances in their diets or address both health and wellness issues. Well-being here is perceived as a holistic concept that includes a variety of aspects of life; mental health (i.e. sleeping well, avoiding stress), physical health (i.e., illnesses maintenance, the prevention of diseases), weight management (i.e., healthy diet, exercising) and getting the most out of your body (i.e., energy level during the day). In addition, sustainability and the influence of structural factors (e.g. level of education, availability, and economic resources) are recognized to play a slightly less important but still significant role in the adaption to a clean eating lifestyle.
- ‘ The ability to heal ourselves already exists within us we just have to support it with the right thoughts, behavior, practices and action, and part of that is eating, exercise and mindfulness’.- R1.
Healthy lower energy dense dietary patterns rich in whole foods that are minimally processed and plant-based are more often associated by clean eaters with having the ability to restore or improve a person’s health conditions. First of all, they believe that healthy clean nutrition can contribute to preventing or managing diabetes and/or (chronic) diseases.
- ‘ When you give your body what it needs and take away what’s damaging it, the body has the ability to heal and restore itself to health. - R3
- ‘For those who are able to stick with the lifestyle, we see the prevention and treatment of disease along with the reversal of disease even in those who are seriously ill. In many cases, we can eliminated the need for medication and/or surgery. Clean eating is the solution’. - R2 -‘ If you start feeding your body with clean food, you begin to notice a difference rather quickly. People begin to feel much better, more clear-headed and have more energy throughout the day. What we see from a medical perspective is that elevated blood sugar and blood pressure normalizes quickly, often this leads to a reduction in people’s medication for diabetes or heart conditions. We also see weight loss, too. -R2
-’We live in a time where illness is an industry and wellness an ideal. It is a paradigm that needs to be shifted. - R1
Secondly, clean eaters associate animal products (i.e., meat, fish and dairy) with a daily exposure to toxics and man-made chemicals. As animal products are loaded with bacteria, antibiotics, hormones, dioxins, and a host of other toxins that can cause serious health problems in humans. Suggesting that food naturalness concerns is the main reason for minimizing animal products in their plant-based diets.
-’..there has never been a civilisation on earth that has survived without animal products in some form or another. So it is a question of ‘how has that animal been treated?’. ‘What has been done to it?’. ‘What has it consumed to make it healthy or sick?’. We have to admit that poison waters, meat processing and the way that meat and flesh has been brought to us can be really heavily toxic in many ways. Not just energetically, biologically, chemically and so on. .. We need to be mindful of consuming protein whether animal or plant-based’. - R1
determined by those epigenetic variables, the things we can control such as dietary, environmental and lifestyle factors.
- ‘It is either our genetic package or how we are feeding ourselves. We can not blame everything
on genetics. If you have a genetic predisposition, doesn’t mean it’s going to necessarily manifest. What determines whether it manifests may be those epigenetic variables, the things that you can control, such as how we feed ourselves’. - R1
- ‘This goes back to having a sense of agency over one self and taking the responsibility to be well. Rather than depending on our medical or healthcare system to bring us to wellness. Scientists and the industry focus on sick people, by catering to them they make a living out of profiting from diseases. The problem is, we are going to bankrupt our health system at this rate. There is no structure or responsibility lead down for the general public to adopt wellness. Big food pharma has contributed to this health demise they are responsible, meanwhile we made it okay to eat this processed garbaged food. We are eating it and everybody is sick, instead of going to the doctor we need to start taking care of our wellness.’ - R1
- ‘ It is criminal that medical students do not get nutrition courses in there education’. - R1 - ‘ In the 10 minutes that a doctor spends with a patient there is only type to quickly analyse the symptoms and subscribe medicine for all types of medical complains. In medical school hardly any time is dedicated to nutritional education, who could we expect doctors to link our health problems to our dietary practices?’ - R2
3.4.2 PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT
Clean eating is supporting the sustainable food system. Clean eaters are aware of the benefit of consume less greenhouse-gas-intensive animal-based foods and purchasing fresh ingredients with whole food plant-based diets. Both have a positive effect on their carbon footprint. Subsequently, clean eaters
To conclude, findings indicate that there is a close perceived match between the health, sustainable sourcing and plant-based eating when we look at the clean eating lifestyle. Due to the fact that clean eaters appear to make decisions for the sole reason to support the achievement of personal health . 6 It is reasonable to believe that a consumer's readiness to take healthy actions is an important determinant of consumer’s attitudes towards eating clean. Clean eaters have a positive attitude towards sustainable agricultural practices, as they perceive these practices as more natural and associated the food with higher dietary quality. Clean eaters do not perceive health and sustainability aspects to be potentially conflicting and thus dietary guidelines that combine both makes sense to them. Yet, health, still matters more- and to more consumers- than sustainability.
3.5 RESULTS STUDY 1.
Study 1 reviews the conditions of eating clean and suggest that the clean eating lifestyle construct is unique. This chapter starts with 1) a proposed definition for the terms ‘Clean eating’ and a ‘Clean eating lifestyle’, and continues with 2) a first attempt to design a conceptual framework that represents the Clean Eating construct. A this chapter ends with a brief summary of the clean eating construct.
Despite increasing use of the term ‘clean eating’ to refer to a diet, and ‘clean’ on products, scholarly enquiry into defining it or examining how it differs from similar relational terms as ‘natural’, ‘minimally processed’ has been non existing. On the basis of Study 1. this paper proposes two definitions related to the Clean eating phenomenon. First of all, the term Clean eating is defined as: “.. eating whole foods that are minimally processed, refined or handled, making them as close to their natural form as possible”. In addition, clean eating has evolved into a lifestyle. Hence, this study is also proposing a definition for the Clean Eating Lifestyle that is defined as follows: ‘.. the consumption of whole nutrient dense, minimally processed, well-sourced, properly prepared foods for the purpose of improving personal health and well-being”.
On the basis of the conceptual development (Study 1.), this study indicate that the CE construct can be formulated as a reflective construct, comprised of five sub-constructs that combined together describe the clean eating lifestyle (Figure 1.). From a consumer behavior perspective clean eating is distinguished by decision making processes that are driven by (complex) control systems and mindfulness in terms of:
Sourcing (i.e., food choices and acquisition of clean nutrition), Preparation (i.e., planning, preparing, cooking, and prepping meals) and Consuming (i.e., eating and disposing of food). This study, more
generally, recognizes the necessity to look beyond the consumption process and provide outlines for a clean eating lifestyle. The qualitative exploratory research indicated that this lifestyle consists of several key principles: 1) Food naturalness, 2) Natural Sourcing 3) Health-, Nutrition-, and Food Literacy and 4) Mindfulness. The concept of eating clean is considered a lifestyle approach to food, as opposed to a diet or fad. The clean eating lifestyle, can be perceived as a new ideology and a long term solution to health and well-being. It is an evolving process and portrait as a long term solution to improve personal health and with the goal to get slightly closer to achieving holistic well-being. Clean eaters have fully embraced a more holistic approach to look after their well-being.
STUDY II: SCALE DEVELOPMENT & VALIDATION
This paper continues with the scale development and validation processes. The Clean Eating construct (Study 1.) is build on five theoretical concepts. In the marketing literature, these theoretical concepts 7 have all been researched separately. For these concepts, researchers have attempted to develop
measurement scales. For example, several studies have examined the significance of naturalness among consumers (Roman, Sanchez-Siles, and Siegrist, 2017), and developed scales to the importance of food naturalness (FNI) with different emphasises. The review of existing measurement scales for these separate concepts that were found can be found in Appendix D. For every concept on which the clean eating construct builds, every single existing scale found is missing essential components. No measurement scale was found that included all important determinants of clean eating, nor was it possible to combine
existing scales. Therefore, Study 2 is the first attempts to develop the first Clean Eating measurement scale and simultaneously test the coherence of the concepts of the Clean Eating construct.
Study 2. consists of two parts: First of all, a description of this studies scale development process followed by pilot-test of the initial items. This part of the paper will further discuss the structure of the online questionnaire and study population. In addition, the second part this study will further perform tests to uncover the validation of the developed measurement scale, consisting of an Explorative- Partial and Confirmatory Factor analysis.
4. Scale Development
As this study is the first to attempt to conceptualize Clean eating, as no established measurement instrument was found that would fit with the assessment of clean eating behavior, nor was there a scale found that included all dimensions in one measure (i.e., food naturalness, natural sourcing, food involvement, food literacy, mindfulness). The next step would be to develop a measurement scale for Clean Eating. In the development process simple scale construction recommendations were followed (Churchill, 1979). 8
4.1 Methodology
4.1.1 Item generation
The first step here is to revisit the construct space of Clean Eating (Study 1.) and define the domain of the latent variables that are being measured. After which an item-pool (N=35) is developed based on a exhaustive literature review and the qualitative study (Study 1) to determine items for the proposed to cover the conceptual domain. To generate specific item content, item are added to match with each of these mechanism to create a comprehensive pool of items. Items are both negatively and positively written to reduce the response set bias and thereby increase validity. These items are formulated as answers to the statement ‘On a daily basis I try to..’. Using a 5-point Likert scale to scale responses in the survey that range from 1- Strongly disagree, 2- Disagree, 3- Neutral, 4- Agree, 5- Strongly agree.
4.1.2 Expert review & Pre-test
A theoretical analyses was executed to examine the content validity, readability and comprehension of the items that are developed. In order to ensure that the scale encompassed all the aspects of elements that are of importance in a Clean eating lifestyle. Content validity is assessed by asking subject matter experts (clean eaters) to rate the degree to which they perceive each item to be relevant to the constructs. To identify any unforeseen problems with the new measurement scale and to find possible solutions, a pre-test is conducted. The objective are to 1) avoid multiplying redundant statements artificially, 2) to correct formulation problems, and 3) to ensure coherence between items and the construct as it is defined. The three experts in clean nutrition independently evaluated the 30 items of the preliminary item pool. Participants review each of the items on the clarity of the meaning and give their interpretation of the items and their opinion about them during the interview. The items is only retained only if all of the experts identify the construct and items as reflecting the clean eating concept. To be certain that items are comprehensible and unambiguous the initial 35 items are adjusted to 27 primary items according to the feedback of the respondents. This study will not carry out a seperate quantitative pretest with a
convenience sample in order to stabilize the formulation or pre-test the scale. The final 27-item of the CE Scale (See Appendix A.) are included in an online questionnaire.
4.1.3 Online quantitative survey
these countries’ national food policies. Survey invitations are send out on healthy nutrition related blogs on social media. The questionnaire is developed in English and consist of 3 parts: 1) demographic and short dietary questions, 2) the 27-items Clean Eating Scale (CES). In addition, the questionnaire is also including the 3) measurements scales (i.e., H-RAS, EMS, SWLS). In order to ensure the reliability of the surveys two answer check questions were added to the survey.
4.1.4 Study Population
The current study consists of a sample of 286 respondents ranging between 15 and 70 years of age. For the purpose of this study conditions are set for the final sample. First of all, respondents were excluded under the age of 21 years. A study by Savage et al., (2008) found evidence that there is a lack of autonomy and control over food choices if the parents are still responsible for the food acquisition and preparation. The current study, performed a quick scan of the data and concluded that there was a significant difference in the survey results, when comparing age groups and their self-reported levels of being in charge of grocery shopping and cooking their own meals.
Secondly, due to an uneven distribution in gender in the sample the current study will focus on the female participants. In the sample size female respondents comprised of 87%, compared to male 12% and gender neutral 1%. As females are more influential as nutritional gatekeepers for household purchasing decisions (Johnson, Sharkey, Dean, McIntosh, & Kubena, 2011; Wansink, 2007), process higher food involvement (de Alencar et al, 2016), and have become more health-conscious in their purchase decisions (Strebe, 2017). Females above 21 years old are thus the target population of the current study.
5 Validation process
The aim of this validation process is to test the model fit of the Clean Eating measurement scale. First, the methodology of this validation process is briefly discussed and the selection of the related construct measurements instruments are described. The second part of this chapter will be dedicated to scale endorsement rates and validity. Followed by the interpretation of the test results of the Exploratory, Partial and Confirmatory Factor Analyses. This chapter will end with a short conclusion.
5.1 Methodology
5.1.1 Validation Process
structure in terms of number of factors that meaningfully group items and aid in selecting the items for inclusion on the final Clean Eating scale (Fields, 2013). Items are purified based on an examination of item-total correlations, corrected item-to-total, item means, variance, and results of the separate run Exploratory Factor Analysis. The first step is to assess whether data were suitable for EFA by using the Bartlett’s test of sphericity (significance level 0.05) and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO, cut-off for adequacy set at > .5)(Fields, 2013). Next the Exploratory Factor Analysis is ran several times to assess the underlying linear factors of the Clean Eating Scale based on this analyses of the factor loadings on the components and by assessing the Cronbach’s Alpha of the whole model and of the subfactors. Here it will be determined if all items of the initial CE scale are suitable for further analysis.
The next step will be to determine the uniqueness of the newly developed Clean Eating Scale. Adding existing scales could help to determine the construct validity, by examining links between the
performance measure and measures of theoretically related constructs. On the other part of the sample an EFA is run hat includes the final CE scale and the items of the relating measurement scales (ECS, H-RAS and SWLS) that were included in the online questionnaire. Here the common factors and the related manifest items are identified. By analysing the factor loadings, it can be assessed if the scales indeed measure different constructs.
Prior to the Confirmatory Factor Analysis, this study will tests whether the model solution with 3 factors is associated with good fit values by using a Partial Confirmatory Factor analysis in SPSS and personally calculating the Norm Fit Index (NFI); Comparative Fit Index (CFI); the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA); and the Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) by using the designed formula by Gognic (2009). If the index values suggest good fit, the model can moved into a Confirmatory Factor Analysis as an analytic framework.
The last step would be to test the fit of the model with the Clean Eating mechanisms as underlying factors in the scale. By conducting a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) using Lavaan in the statistical programme R. The adequacy of the model fit was determined using three indices; the CFI; the RMSEA; and the SRMR. Following the guidelines of Kline (2010), the CFI value larger than .90, RMSEA between .05 and .08 indicate good fit of the model. The convergent validity of the measurement model can be assessed by analysing the results of the Average Variance Extracted (AVE)(>.5) and Composite Reliability (CR)(>.77).
5.1.2 Related Constructs and Measurement Scales.
theoretical constructs that were chosen. The online questionnaire included measurement instruments 9 related to these selected constructs and could all be perceived as to measure potential motives for Clean eating dietary patterns.
The first, measurement scale used is The Environmental Motives Scale (EMS)(Appendix C.). This 12-item scale measures three areas of concern about environmental problems caused by human
behaviours (Schultz, 2000, 2001). The EMS is designed to illustrate egoistic (me, my lifestyle, my health, and my future), altruistic (people in my country, all people, children, future generations) and biospheric (plants, marine life, birds, and animals) concerns. This measurement scale was included to help determine motives behind clean eating behavior, potentially related to concerns about environmental problems. While answering the question “I am concerned about environmental problems because of the
consequences for__”. It is expected that Clean eaters will self-report egoistic concerns as being more important than altruistic and biospheric concerns. This scale can contribute by providing evidence to confirm the finding from the qualitative exploratory research suggesting that people adapt to a clean lifestyle for the sole reason of their own personal health. In addition, in prior studies this scale is found to be a reliable and valid scale, therefore it is a good measure to include for further analysis.
Secondly, the Health- Related Concern Scale (H-RAS) was used to measure potential health concern, a 13-item scale by Van Osch et al., (2007)(Appendix C.). Participants were asked to agree or disagree to a series of statements that reflect common health concerns (i.e., I think that I take good care of my body) or desirable behaviour (i.e., It is important to me that I organize my life so that I will later enjoy good health). Higher scores indicate a greater degree of involvement with health related issues. The scale is found to be a reliable and valid scale (Van Osch, 2007). It is expected that clean eaters will answer to these questions in a way that highlights the concern of clean eaters related to their own health and a there expressed sceptical attitude towards high risk procedures. It is suggested that clean eaters would rather avoid medical treatment and resolve focus on dietary solutions to improve their health and well-being. The third and final existing measurement scale that is used is the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) by Diener et al., (1985). The SWLS s a 5-item scale was used to measure the level of life satisfaction (See Appendix C.) (i.e., “If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing”). The Cronbach’s alpha for the SWLS was very high in the original study, this measure could be a good indicator to determine how well a measure reflects on the intended construct. Life satisfaction was measured to identify a possible link between clean eating and higher life satisfaction. While taking care of your own well-being and healthier could give people the opportunity to life a fuller life. It is suggested that self-reported clean
