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Yes, some people say they have accepted a date mainly for a free meal. Researchers call it a “foodie call.” Recent survey reporting suggests the behavior includes Gen Z daters, but the evidence does not show that it is unique to young people or increasing over time.
What is a foodie call?
A foodie call is a date someone accepts despite lacking romantic attraction to the other person, primarily to get a free meal. In their study abstract, Brian Collisson, Jennifer L. Howell, and Trista Harig define it this way: “A foodie call occurs when a person, despite a lack of romantic attraction to a suitor, chooses to go on a date to receive a free meal.”
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The label describes a motive, not simply a date that ends without a second meeting. Survey answers cannot establish what motivated any particular person, so declining another date afterward is not proof that someone used a date for food.
What do the surveys say?
| Study or report | Who and what it measured | Reported result |
|---|---|---|
| Collisson, Howell, and Harig, Social Psychological and Personality Science (online 2019; issue 2020). Study abstract | Two surveys asking women about their own foodie-call behavior. | 23–33% of women in the study samples reported having done it at least once. This is not an estimate for all women or all Gen Z daters. |
| Orhan and coauthors, Psychological Reports (online 2023; issue 2025). Registered replication and extension | 1,838 heterosexual women in Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States; surveyed about behavior and its perceived acceptability. | Gender-role beliefs were the strongest overall predictor; the Dark Triad general factor was not significant. Results differed by country. |
| DatingAdvice.com (2025). U.S. survey report | 1,016 U.S. adults; the report discusses daters who accepted a romantic dinner invitation mainly for the free meal. | 30% of daters surveyed said they had done so; the report gives a 32% figure for Gen Z and zillennial daters. |
The first two studies are peer-reviewed research; the Gen Z figures come from a publisher-reported survey. DatingAdvice.com’s accessible report does not establish all the sampling and question details needed to treat its percentages as population-representative estimates or compare them directly with the academic studies.
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Does the evidence show Gen Z does it more?
It supports saying that a survey report found the behavior among Gen Z and zillennial daters. It does not establish that Gen Z does it more than older generations: the available figures do not come from directly comparable studies using the same sample design and question. Nor do they show an increase over time. A higher or lower percentage across these separate surveys could reflect differences in who was asked or how the behavior was defined, rather than a generational shift.
A November 2025 Minnesota Star Tribune opinion column cited a separate estimate that 31% of Gen Z singles had gone on a date mostly for a free meal. The column excerpt does not provide enough detail to independently assess the underlying study, so that figure should not be combined with DatingAdvice.com’s 32% as though they were the same result.
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What might explain the behavior?
The original study reported associations involving foodie-call behavior, traditional gender-role beliefs, and measures of the Dark Triad personality traits. Associations do not show that those traits cause someone to accept a date for food.
In the registered cross-country replication, gender-role beliefs were the best overall predictor of reported behavior and perceived acceptability, while the Dark Triad general factor was nonsignificant. The country-level pattern was not uniform: the authors reported that the original findings replicated in the United Kingdom and Poland; in the United States, only narcissism predicted foodie calls, while gender-role beliefs predicted perceived acceptability. These are survey associations, not explanations for an individual’s choices.
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What the findings can—and cannot—tell you
- They document self-reported behavior. The academic studies asked women about their own experiences; the replication’s question was, “Have you ever agreed to date someone (who you were not interested in a relationship with) because he might pay for your meal?”
- The measure has a defined scope. That replication question is framed around women dating men and is not a universal measure across genders or relationship types.
- The figures are not interchangeable. The studies differ in populations, wording, and what they measured, so their percentages should not be read as one continuous trend.
- A motive cannot be inferred from one outcome. A person may not want another date for many reasons; the survey findings do not make a single decision evidence of deception.
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