Impulsive Eating

What it measures

A nine-item likert scale designed to measure the degree to which a person expresses the desire to consume food impetuously, without much thinking or planning.

Response format

5-point Likert (1=strongly disagree, 5=strongly agree)

Scale items

• I often eat spontaneously.
• Just eat” describes the way I eat.
• I often eat without thinking.
• I see it, I eat it” describes me.
• Eat now, think about it later” describes me.
• Sometimes I feel like eating on the spur of the moment.
• I eat according to how I feel at the moment.
• I carefully plan most of my meals. (r)
• Sometimes I am a bit reckless about what I eat.

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

Usage notes & scoring

Internal consistency (alpha = .86) was reported in the primary study. Adapted from Rook, D. W., & Fisher, R. J. (1995). Normative influences on impulsive buying behavior. Journal of Consumer Research, 22(3), 305–313. Original 9-item buying scale re-worded to replace purchasing/buying references with eating/consuming. Item #8 ("I carefully plan most of my meals") is reverse-scored. α = .86 reported in primary study.

Citation

Kidwell, B., Hardesty, D. M., & Childers, T. L. (2008). Emotional calibration effects on consumer choice. Journal of Consumer Research, 35(4), 611–621.

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