The Ongoing Journey of Starting and Stopping: A Continuous-Time Approach to Consumer Food Decisions

Kelly L. Haws, Peggy J. Liu, Brent McFerran and Pierre Chandon

Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 2026, vol. 11, issue 3, 304 - 319

Abstract: Consumers make a multitude of food consumption decisions every day, and such decisions are influenced by internal motivations and external factors, consequential for health and well-being, and highly connected over time. To enhance our understanding of food decision making, we propose the Start-Stop Continuous-Time Food Framework. This novel framework (1) identifies and characterizes each eating episode through three key interrelated dimensions (when to start eating, what to eat, when to stop eating) and (2) depicts relationships between eating episodes over time through this framework. We propose ways to enhance the consideration of single eating episode approaches, while also advocating for a more “continuous-time” approach that facilitates the identification of food consumption patterns reflective of consumers’ everyday choices. We specify a wide range of future research questions and promising avenues for applying our framework for helping consumers eat consistently with their goals, designing effective policies, and conducting impactful consumer food research.

Date: 2026
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