Desirability of the Food

What it measures

A four-item scale measuring the immediate, visceral desire to consume a specific food upon visual exposure. Items assess impulsive urge, irresistible craving, the desire to immediately take the food, and anticipatory salivation — capturing the full spectrum of pre-consumption appetitive response. Designed for experimental research on food temptation and self-regulation, the scale is administered immediately upon exposure to the food stimulus and is sensitive to momentary affective states that amplify or dampen craving.

Response format

7-point Likert

Scale items

• I felt an impulse to eat the [food] as soon as I saw them.
• I felt a strong irresistible urge to eat the [food] when I saw them.
• When I saw the [food] I felt a desire to grab and eat them.
• I began to salivate as soon as I saw the [food].

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

FILL-IN-THE-BLANK FORMAT: The blank should be replaced with the generic food name (e.g., 'grapes') or brand name (e.g., 'M&Ms'). Three reliability estimates from main studies: α = .90 to .92 — Fedorikhin & Patrick (2010). Pretest estimate of α = .73 excluded; the scale is well-established in the three experimental conditions. VALIDITY: Successfully used as a manipulation check verifying food exposure manipulations, providing limited concurrent validity evidence. Adapted from a scale used by Shiv & Fedorikhin (1999, Journal of Consumer Research 26, 278–292) — items differ from the original. Cross-reference: a differently sourced 3-item scale sharing this exact handbook title (Fritz, Hadi, and Stephen 2023) is catalogued separately as 'Desirability of the Food (Motivation to Eat)' (ID 90359) to avoid a naming collision.

Citation

Fedorikhin, Alexander and Vanessa M. Patrick (2010). Positive mood and resistance to temptation: The interfering influence of elevated arousal. Journal of Consumer Research, 37(4), 698–711.

Keywords