ABSTRACT
Eating out among Americans has become important part of life lives due to the tremendous growth of foodservice industry and various social and economic changes. The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors affecting eating out trends and to explore the structural reasoning of eating out behavior. There have been various reasons (trends) to eat out or away from home. Leisure, pleasure, and necessity can be common reasons to eat out but they can be classified into more detailed causes. People are likely to eat out to experience something new and different from the everyday diet, and consumers are motivated from hedonic or utilitarian reason in terms of individual and environmental influences. Markets and demographic characteristics could also be factors impacting eating out so socio-cultural elements play a critical role. The choice of eating out can also be interpreted as a preference to avoid home meal preparation for convenience. One of the motivating reasons for such choices could be the lack of time for cooking and preparing food, given the pressures of day to day life. On the other hand, the looming caution for such choices could be the potential unhealthiness of eating out. Individuals also enjoy eating out when they want to socialize for special occasions with their family and friends. Besides, there are effects of family on eating out decisions, such as the size and composition of the family. Lastly, the socio-economic status of households could affect out-of-home eating decisions, thereby increasing the importance of understanding the economics of this phenomenon.
