Skip to main content
The Cornell Food & Brand Lab

Grocery Shopping Psychology

Engineering Comfort Foods

Summary

It is a cold and rainy afternoon. You decide that a bowl of chicken soup would hit the spot. While eating the soup, you smile as you are reminded of a rainy day when you were young and your mother made you the same soup. Ever had a craving for a pint of Double Chocolate Chip ice cream when you were sad? A turkey sandwich when you were happy?

These are comfort foods; A specific food consumed under a specific situation. In essence, a comfort food is a food a person eats to obtain a degree of psychological comfort. This may be a bowl of soup on a cold day, a pint of ice cream when we are sad, or a turkey sandwich when we are happy.

For more information see Wansink, Brian and Cynthia Sangerman (2000), "Engineering Comfort Foods," American Demographics, July 66–67.

Contact:
Brian Wansink, PhD
Food and Brand Lab, Director
110 Warren Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
Email: foodandbrandlab@cornell.edu

*The study was conducted at the University of Illinois, former location of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab.