CHAPTER II

Review of Related Literature

This part deliberately presented the different views of

authors, findings from previous studies, and varied ideas

from research writers regarding canteen service,

competition of food businesses, and students’ satisfaction and

choices. The readings were carefully chosen as to its significant

contribution to the purpose of this study. Also, the shared

views enriched the discussion of this study and gave the

researchers a wider understanding and perceptions about this

present study.

Research on habits and information processing has

demonstrated that when behavior has become habitual and when

people are not motivated or cognitively involved enough (or are

too distracted) to engage in effortful reasoning and

deliberation, their decision-making will likely be powered by the

impulsive system. This implies that when people have well-

developed eating habits and is not very much involved in their

food choices (and as a result do not invest much time and effort

in thinking about their choices), the environment is likely to

determine their eating behaviour to a large extent. Whereas

school cafeterias offer great potential to improve students’

eating behavior. When taken into consideration that most students

tend to engage in impulsive decision making, when it comes to

their food, this implies that environmental cues can also nudge

them in the direction of more vigorous choices. (Mensink et al.,

2012)

Food choice decisions are multi-componential and no specific

theory explains the factors that influence food choices and

preferences, but multiple perspectives, frameworks and theories

are needed to simplify the factors and interactions in food

choices (Sobal & Bisogni, 2009)

The selection procedure of food and eating is not a simple

theory; it consists of multiple aspects that require

constructionist thinking. Taste responses are influenced by a

range of genetic, physiological, and metabolic variables.

Reactions to sensual taste, smell and texture of food, are

factors that helps to understand the preference of the person for

food, but this fact alone is not enough to know the actual food

intake of the person. In fact, it is said that people who prefer

the sweet taste, are vulnerable to obesity more than their peers

are. However, this is over-simplified, because in fact there are

many links between tastes and preferences. In addition, we cannot

forget that personal differences play an active role in

influencing the choices and food selection (Sobal & Bisogni,

2009).

Schools are the best places in implementing solutions to the

problems innutrition since the students, teenagers, and young

adults spend more time in school than being at home. This means

they eat more in school rather than at home. This statement shows

how important that the canteens must satisfy the students because

it shows that they spend more time eating in school than at their

own homes. (Cartagena, 2014)

Based on the study of Mahreen et al (2010), while many

schools sold healthful foods and beverages, many also sold items

high in fat, sodium, and added sugars. Opportunities to eat and

drink at school should be used to encourage greater daily

consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and Non-fat or

low-fat dairy products. Maniquiz as cited by Mahreen et al

(2010), although canteen sold appropriate amount of foods as per

the needs of students, served food was not always fresh, newly

cooked or prepared. The food was found to be repetitive and

limited lacking the nutritional value needed by the students.

Students found canteen food quite expensive. Food items must be

affordable yet nutritious so that the students would be

satisfied.
 Studies show that labeling and signage on school campuses

affect students’ food selections at school. This is a problem

because many of the foods marketed in schools are of poor

nutritional quality. A national survey found that 67% of schools

have advertising for foods that are high in fat and/or sugar.6

Such marketing undermines parents’ efforts to keep their children

healthy, which is especially problematic when companies promote

the consumption of sugary, fatty foods while kids and youth are

away from home and parents are not there to guide their

children’s food choices. It also undermines nutrition education.

(Food Marketing Workgroup, 2010)

The school canteen must ensure that they offer a

selection of low-cost items that can fill the hunger of the

students and ensure their vitamin needs. They must offer students

products that they can buy with their small change or pocket

money. Promotion is the further development or growth

of something. Promotions can be simple and positive that is

concerned only with the health of the students. Then we consider

a certain product, we must also include the image of the canteen

as a whole and not just the item itself. (State Government of

Victoria, 2016)

Elliott & Shin defined student satisfaction as the

favorability of a student’s subjective evaluation of the various

outcomes and experiences associated with education. While most

student satisfaction study focus on the perspective of customer,

researchers is facing a problem of creating a standard definition

for student satisfaction thus providing a need of customer

satisfaction theory to be selected and modified so that it can

explain the meaning of student satisfaction. Even though it is

risky to view students as customer, but given the current

atmosphere of higher education marketplace, there is a new moral

prerogative that student have become customer and therefore can,

as fee payers, reasonably demand that their views be heard and

acted upon. Elliott & Healy define student satisfaction as short-

term attitude resulting from an evaluation of a student’s

educational experience. There is not much difference between the

two terms because the student is just another kind of

customer who is a consumer of the education service and

therefore most of the literature on service marketing will

apply.

According to the students of Tarlac State University,

Yumul, Longga, Dimmal, Cariano, Sotto, and Pangilinan in the year

2014. They recommended that good ambience, cleanliness and taste

of food are the main satisfactory condition that students look

for. The factor that most students are dissatisfied with is the

price. They recommended that the school canteen must understand

the situation of the students that they cannot afford the price
of their food on a regular basis and offer low priced foods to

give the students other options to buy.

Interestingly, the impact of the environment on people’s

food choices and eating behavior is dependent on the way in which

people make their food decisions. Specifically, decision-making

and choice behavior usually results from one of two distinct

cognitive processes: reflective or impulsive processes. When

decision-making is powered by the reflective system, people think

carefully and rationally and they usually act upon their

intentions. It is under these circumstances that environmental

cues can strongly affect people’s decisions and behavior. When we

apply these insights to the current topic of eating behavior, it

is to be expected that the environment strongly influences such

behavior when people make food choices via the impulsive system

(as opposed to the reflective system). (Mensink et al., 2012)