Time-of-Day Effects on (Un)Healthy Product Purchases: Insights from Diverse Consumer Behavior Data

Abstract

It is important for marketing academics and public policymakers to understand how to persuade consumers to consume healthier food instead of unhealthy food. Based on the theories of synchrony effect and self-control, this research makes novel predictions about the time-of-day effects on (un)healthy food purchases. The results of a field study and a laboratory experiment confirm that consumers’ self-control level becomes lower in the evening, which leads consumers to buy more unhealthy products in the evening than they do in the morning. A follow-up eye-tracking experiment reveals the underlying mechanism through which self-control failure makes consumers pay more visual attention to unhealthy food and the weaker effect of attention to healthy food on purchases. The results of this study provide valuable insights not only for marketing academics but also for retailers and consumer marketing companies.