Trying tongs and spoiling spoons: Effort nudges influence food consumption and may motivate healthier food decisions

IF 4.9 1区农林科学 Q1 FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Food Quality and Preference Pub Date : 2025-01-18 DOI:10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105435

Tobias Otterbring , Erik Thomassen , Casper Solli Øritsland , Gastón Ares

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Healthier eating is crucial to tackle the rapid rise of obesity and noncommunicable diseases worldwide. This research examined two nudging interventions intended to decrease food consumption: price display and serving utensils. Forecasting experiments showed that people predicted displaying the price of the food per kg (vs. hg) should decrease the amount of food purchased (Study 1 A), but that using tongs (vs. spoon) would be ineffective (Study 1B). In contrast to these results, a high-powered preregistered field study at a university canteen (Study 2) revealed that price display had no notable effect; however, tongs (vs. spoon) reliably decreased the average amount of food purchased per meal by 14 g or 3.1 %, also when compared to weeks when both types of serving utensils were available. An image-supported online experiment with enhanced rigor and control (Study 3) replicated the results regarding tongs (vs. spoon) for a particularly unhealthy food category (candy), while highlighting a psychological mechanism driving the effect. Using tongs required more effort, which decreased satisfaction tied to using said serving utensils, thereby reducing people's willingness to consume candy. Given the simplicity and cost effectiveness of swapping spoons with tongs, combined with the behavioral evidence underscoring its practical relevance, these findings might aid in steering consumers to healthier food decisions, ultimately benefiting public health.

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来源期刊

Food Quality and Preference 工程技术-食品科技

CiteScore

10.40

自引率

15.10%

发文量

263

审稿时长

38 days

期刊介绍： Food Quality and Preference is a journal devoted to sensory, consumer and behavioural research in food and non-food products. It publishes original research, critical reviews, and short communications in sensory and consumer science, and sensometrics. In addition, the journal publishes special invited issues on important timely topics and from relevant conferences. These are aimed at bridging the gap between research and application, bringing together authors and readers in consumer and market research, sensory science, sensometrics and sensory evaluation, nutrition and food choice, as well as food research, product development and sensory quality assurance. Submissions to Food Quality and Preference are limited to papers that include some form of human measurement; papers that are limited to physical/chemical measures or the routine application of sensory, consumer or econometric analysis will not be considered unless they specifically make a novel scientific contribution in line with the journal''s coverage as outlined below.