Structural Relationship Analysis of Middle-Aged Men's Cooking Program Characteristics, Subjective Norms, Attitudes, Flow, and Recommendation Intentions: An Extended Theory of Planned Behavior Approach

This study aims to analyze the characteristics of cooking programs, subjective norms, attitudes, flow, and recommendation intentions among middle-aged men, and to examine how these factors influence social participation and feelings of alienation. A survey was conducted with 442 men aged 40 to 65 who had prior experience with cooking programs. Structural Equation Modeling and multi-group analysis were employed to test eight hypotheses. Four sub-factors of cooking program characteristics significantly influenced subjective norms, while only improved food preparation technology had a direct effect on attitudes. Subjective norms affected both attitudes and flow, and attitudes influenced flow, thereby affecting the intention to recommend. Practice with cooking recipes and exposure to new cooking technologies had a greater impact on subjective norms among socially active participants, whereas the effect of subjective norms on attitudes was more pronounced among those with lower levels of social participation. Among individuals with low levels of alienation, all four sub-factors of program characteristics significantly influenced subjective norms. Furthermore, subjective norms had a stronger impact on attitudes in these low-alienation groups. These findings suggest that cooking programs contribute not only to technical skill development but also to psychosocial well-being, emphasizing the importance of program designs that consider participants’ social engagement and emotional needs.