I’m sitting at my desk writing this on a Friday morning, but I’m already thinking about Friday night. Why? Sometimes we eat chicken wings on Friday. Much like with beer, coffee, wine and cigarettes, my first experience with chicken wings wasn’t gratifying; I can still feel my face grimacing from their spicy, vinegary taste. But since then, I’ve learned to love chicken wings like I love all my vices. For me, chicken wings have to be eaten in a certain type of place on a certain type of Friday. It has to be early, around 7 pm, in a dive bar with the lowest of lights. It has to be after a busy week, just before a busy weekend. The chicken wings should be piled high, and the napkins should be thin and plentiful. Fortunately, I’m not alone in feeling a particular way about food and place.
A recent study looking at people’s emotional responses to food in different consumption contexts showed that where and when we eat affects how we feel about the food. When and where we eat food automatically evokes a mood and feelings about the appropriateness of what we’re about to consume. These feelings then directly affect how we interpret our enjoyment of the food.
The research found that how people feel about a food changes depending on the time and place it’s consumed. For example, I’m less enthusiastic about the prospect of eating chicken wings on a Sunday than a Friday. The amount of emotional change caused by when and where food is eaten also depends on the type of food. For example, there’s a bigger difference between how I feel eating chicken wings for breakfast or dinner than how I feel about eating an apple for breakfast or dinner. The researchers also found something stranger: people who frequently eat a particular food don’t show stronger emotional intensity toward it than people who rarely eat it.
That last finding is the one that sticks with me. I eat chicken wings most Fridays, but that doesn’t mean I’m a chicken wing enthusiast. I’m a Friday-night-in-a-dive-bar enthusiast. The wings are just part of the ritual. If you’re trying to understand why people buy what they buy, consumption frequency might be measuring the wrong thing entirely.