Advancing Visual Food Attractiveness Predictions for Healthy Food Recommender System

The visual representation of food on digital platforms affects the foods chosen by users, including in the context of recommender systems. Previous studies show that small changes in visual features can influence human decision-making, regardless of whether the food is healthy. This paper reports on a study aimed at better understanding how users perceive the attractiveness of food recipe images in the digital world. In an online mixed-methods survey (N = 192), users provided visual attractiveness ratings of food images on a 7-point scale, along with textual assessments. We found robust correlations between fundamental visual features (e.g., contrast, colorfulness) and perceived image attractiveness. The analysis also revealed that, among other user factors, cooking skills positively affected perceived image attractiveness. Regarding food image dimensions, appearance and perceived healthiness were significantly correlated with user ratings of food image attractiveness.