KFC results reflect healthy eating disconnect, says researcher

'When we looked at shopping logs, haul videos and weekly transactional spend, we saw a very different story play out,' wrote TRA research consultant Jeremy McDonnell in an article based on the study.

'What we saw was that millennials will often put aside their allegedly strongly held attitudes in order to save a dollar, as opposed to voting with it.'

McDonnell argued there's a significant disconnect between the public narrative and what consumers actually do in stores.

'These everyday purchases involve a surprisingly low level of consciousness, which contradicts the current cultural narrative depicting millennials as conscientious, informed buyers. They may talk the talk, but fail to walk the walk,' he wrote.

The intoxicating aroma of KFC will likely continue to pull consumers out of their strong opinions and into the greasy embrace of fried chicken for some time, but consumer behaviour does have a tendency to change over time. And with governments across the world already dabbling in ways to fight the obesity epidemic with regulation, that change could potentially be forced in the future.