| Disease | A TOTAL OF 100 FEMALE AND MALE SHOPPERS IN HELSINKI WERE INTERVIEW TO EVALUATE BELIEFS, ATTITUDES AND NORMS CONCERNING THE CONSUMPTION OF GARLIC. IN A SUBSEQUENT POSTAL QUESTIONNAIRE, THE ANNOYANCE RELATED TO THE SMELL OF GARLIC, COMPARED
WITH OTHER SOCIAL ODORS, WAS ALSO MEASURED. THE MOST FREQUENT BELIEFS ABOUT GARLIC PERTAINED TO ITS GOOD TASTE, UNPLEASANT SMELL, AND HEALTHINESS. USERS AND NON-USERS SHOWED DISTINCTLY DIFFERENT BELIEF PATTERNS. SWEAT AND ALCOHOL WERE
CONSIDERED THE MOST ANNOYING SOCIAL ODORS, AND GARLIC AND PERFUME/AFTERSHAVE THE LEAST SO. THE FISHBEIN-AJEN MODEL, IN WHICH INDIVIDUAL BELIEFS AND THEIR EVALUATIONS AS WELL AS SUBJECTIVE NORMS WERE USED AS PREDICTORS, EXPLAINED 35-35% OF THE
VARIATION OF THE REPORTED CONSUMPTION AND INTENTION TO USE GARLIC. THE PREDICITIVE POWER OF THE MODEL ROSE TO 56-62% WHEN PAST BEHAVIOR WAS INCLUDED AS A THIRD INDEPENDENT VARIABLE. ALTHOUGH THE PREDICTIVE POWER OF ATTITUDES WAS GREATER THAN
THAT OF SUBJECTIVE NORMS, THE LATTER WERE ALSO SIGNIFICANT PREDICTORS. THUS, USE OF GARLIC IS A SOMEWHAT UNUSUAL FORM OF FOOD-RELATED BEHAVIOR IN THAT IT IS CONTROLLED BY BOTH ATTITUDES AND NORMATIVE FACTORS. |