The survey, commissioned by My Voucher Codes found that just 4% of people are influenced by ‘food porn’ adverts, as they now look for value for money above everything else. It seems that consumers now look for the best quality food at the lowest prices and are more likely to cook from scratch that to buy pre-made meals.

Surprisingly, the research also found that people still rely on TV cooking programs and recipe books for inspiration as opposed to websites, blogs or social media.

The survey polled 2,401 people in the UK over the age of 18 asking them about their shopping and eating habits. My Voucher Codes asked, “How influenced by ‘food porn’ style adverts like those by M&S are you to try and buy from these retailers?” and found that only 4% said that they were influenced by these types of adverts. The results also showed that women and younger people were more likely to be swayed by suggestive food adverts, while men and older people remained uninterested.

To find out more about the UK’s shopping habits, My Voucher Codes then asked the participants, “What influences your grocery shopping” and found that:

• 64% looked for value for money
• 52% went for quality produce
• 39% bought groceries depending on availability
• 35% shopped in stores that had a large choice of products
• 23% shopped where they had the best customer service
• 18% were influenced by advertisements
• and 12% were worried about welfare standards

To find out what influences people when it comes to cooking and trying new foods, My Voucher Codes also asked the same participants, “What influences you to try new foods or recipes?” Respondents could choose from a selection of answers, and the results are below:

• TV shows focusing on food – 56%
• Recipe books – 53%
• Restaurants – 50%
• Social media images or videos – 49%
• TV chefs – 45%
• Supermarket recipe cards – 36%
• Websites or blogs – 21%
• Recommendations from family or friends – 15%

Speaking about the results, General Manager of My Voucher Codes, Chris Reilly, said:

“There are a lot of things which can influence where people shop and what they buy, but despite influence from online sources or  expensive adverts created by marketing agencies, it would appear for shoppers it all still comes down to cost, value for money and quality. Our results also show that people are still influenced to try new foods and recipes by TV shows, cookery shows have been popular in the UK for the last few decades and it doesn’t look like the popularity is slowing down anytime soon.

“We have seen in the news recently that people were up in arms with the BBC when they announced that they were cutting the recipes on their website. However only 21% of people use websites and blogs for inspiration, but maybe this is an area which is gaining in popularity as the more tech savvy generations come of age? One thing for sure, it will be a long time, before people are ready to give up their recipe books or get bored with cookery shows.”

If anything, this research shows that people are becoming savvier when it comes to food shopping, hunting for the best quality food at the best price. It also shows that people are willing to cook from scratch instead of buying pre-made meals which can only help to educate people more about what is in the food they eat.

Still can’t give up that exquisite looking M&S dessert or want to get some money off on your grocery shopping? Why not check out My Voucher Codes latest M&S vouchers now.