Marketers with the understanding that human consciousness, feelings, thoughts, and actions are the result of neural activity in the brain have brought in a revolution in the way products are marketed and sold. Neuromarketing, or consumer neuroscience as it is called, helps in understanding consumer behaviour and decision-making and even helps manipulate them. In this context, it becomes imperative to study the effect of neuromarketing on food product sales and buying patterns in the current context of large-scale and heavy dependence on processed and packaged foods. Objective: With this background, the current investigation was envisioned to assess the impact of cognitive function, emotions, and marketing on food purchases among both athletes and the public. Methodology: A point-of-purchase survey among public and sports athletes was conducted in different Kodagu districts of Karnataka, a state with a population exposed to a wide range of food varieties and varied nature of food preferences. Independent variables composed of attitudes and subjective norms; perceived cognitive process and diet-health concern (5-point semantic differential); and individual factors influence food choices (12-item index) questionnaires were designed. The obtained data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and mean analysis. Results: The influence of various marketing strategies varied the decision-making process among both demographics. Most percentages of individuals had the knowledge and health literacy that influenced their food choices. The results indicated that nutritional content was the most influencing factor among the public’s purchasing decisions (49.2%), followed by brand reputation (21.8%), price point (18.8%), and packaging design (10.2%). Attitudes, subjective norms, and cognitive functioning differed significantly by age, gender, socio-economic status and profession. Subjective norms (quality, brand) and diet-health concerns were significant predictors of intention to buy food products in athletes, while the objective norms (taste, cost, availability) were significant among non-athletes. Conclusions: The research highlights the multifaceted nature of consumer decision-making while consumers purchase food products from the public and athletes, and future research could further explore the interactions between various factors and their relative importance in different consumer segments.