Marital Status Nowadays, almost more than half of our food expenditures are spent on fast food chains.

According to an article written by Carpenter (2011), the top three reasons for buying at fast food chains are due to its rapid service, convenient location, and good-tasting food. In addition, researchers in the article investigated additional factors that affect the preference of people in choosing and eating at fast food chains. One of their main focuses is on the marital status of certain individuals. It is believed that, in married individuals with a number of offspring, the children can influence their parents on where and what food to eat. It is in this line that the established fast food chains in the country recognize children as a separate marketing demographic from adults. According to an article by Veracity (2006), children who love to watch the television commercials of a certain fast food chain as well as bring their parents, grandparents, or any relative along could give such fast food chain additional customers. Factors such as parental work, family meal rituals, and parenting style were also taken into consideration according to Rydell, Harnack, and Oakes (2008). Interesting findings surfaced after the conduct of the study. Accordingly, the families who almost always eat at fast food chains are those families whose mothers rank their careers as their top priority, families who always travel on the road, and families who dont have an authoritative parenting style. It was concluded that eating at fast food chains are linked with the manner in which parents interact with their children and time availability. According to a study made by Dave, et (2009), the marital status of certain individuals was found to be independently associated with the frequency of fast-food intake. Single individuals were more likely to have greater odds in eating more frequently from fast food chains rather than individuals who were married, partnered, separated, divorced, or widowed. This also holds the same with the article written by Ziol-Guest, DeLiere, and Kalil (2006). It was stated that single individuals or even single parents, as compared to married individuals, allocate a greater share of their food budget to alcohol and food purchased away from home. The aforementioned articles, researches, and studies, have a varying notion regarding the marital status of an individual as a factor that would likely affect the preference of consumers in choosing fast food chains. Though some of the studies gave out different results, it can be inferred that the marital status also play a role with regards to the preference or choice of individuals on certain fast food chains.
Factors that influence childrens use of fast food and full service restaurants Ruth Ann Carpenter, MS, RD (June 24, 2011) http://todayiwill.com/2011/06/factors-that-influence-childrens-use-of-fast-food-and-full-service-restaurants/#.UBiSUmFo3Mc Fast food giants prey on parents' gullibility to sell unhealthy food to children Dani Veracity (July 13, 2006) http://www.naturalnews.com/019633.html Rydell, S.A. Harnack, L.J. Oakes, J.M. Why eat at fast-food restaurants: reported reasons among frequent consumers. J Am Diet Assoc. 2008;108:2066-2070. Relationship of Attitudes Toward Fast Food and Frequency of Fast-food Intake in Adults Jayna M. Dave, Lawrence C. An, Robert W. Jeffery and Jasjit S. Ahluwalia (February 26, 2009) http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v17/n6/full/oby200926a.html The Allocation of Food Expenditure in Married- and Single-Parent Families Kathleen M. Ziol-Guest, Thomas Deleire, And Ariel Kalil (2006) https://www.msu.edu/~deleire/JOCA_61_final.pdf