The innovative food choice map as a bottom-up mixed-methods approach to studying food choice motivations

This study presents the innovative Food Choice Map (FCM) as a methodological innovation for investigating food choice motivations using an integrated qualitative and quantitative approach. One hundred in-depth interviews were conducted with adults living in the United States, during which participants constructed individualized visual maps of their typical weekly diet. These maps documented specific foods and beverages, eating occasions, frequencies of consumption, and self-articulated motivations for each choice. Using a bottom-up framework grounded in real consumption events, qualitative data were inductively coded into fifteen motivation constructs, which were subsequently analyzed using Correspondence Analysis to demonstrate how motivational patterns can be examined across food groups and eating occasions. Results are presented as illustrative examples of the method’s analytical capabilities, revealing systematic distinctions between meals and snacks and between physical and psychological eating motivations across the day. By linking participant-driven narratives with structured quantitative analysis, the innovative Food Choice Map offers a robust methodological alternative to top-down survey instruments. This approach has potential applications in food choice research, nutrition education, and dietary counseling, where understanding context-specific motivations is critical for effective intervention design. Innovative Food Choice Map (iFCM) provided both qualitative and quantitative insights Fifteen key motivations identified from real-life food decisions Meals and snacks differ in both food types and underlying motivations iFCM is a useful tool to assess dietary patterns and promote healthy eating