Excerpt from Forbes article:

What do consumers want? Its a question many food companies are struggling to answer. Are they vegan or are they plant-based? How much transparency do they really want? Before companies fight to the death over every last mayo-hating, Applebees-killing Millennial, they should consider how technology is changing the way consumers feel about their food.

Its no secret that the increasingly ubiquitous presence of smartphones and wearable technology has had an impact on things like sleep and exercise, but its transformed the way people eat, too. The constant presence of technology in the lives of consumers has impacted food choices big and small, argues Dave Donnan, a food industry consultant who spoke at this years Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo, otherwise known as FNCE to attending food and nutrition experts.

Some shifts are obvious. As more people document their dining experiences on Instagram, for example, clever chefs are creating dishes aimed at satisfying both the gastronomic palate and the visual aesthetic. But other shifts are more incremental, argues Donnan, who likens technologys influence to tiny nudges that build in influence over time, borrowing from economist Richard Thalers nudge theory.

These subtle nudges can often be the most pernicious. The constant pressure to curate every moment has brought with it an omnipresent sense of being watched. Consumers worry about making the right food choices, even though no one knows what right is anyway.

Based upon this article - what type of influence is technology exerting on the consumer decision making process (DIG DEEP - this is not as straightforward as it seems - think about the mechanism, what's ultimately driving the effect)?

		situational
		social
		temporal
		seasonal