Recent Research on - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Recent Research onFood Decision Making

Hans Baumgartner

Smeal College of Business, Penn State UniversitySlide2

Transformative consumer research (Mick 2006, p. 2)By transformative research we mean investigations that are framed by a fundamental problem or opportunity, and that strive to respect, uphold, and improve life in relation to the myriad conditions

, demands

, potentialities, and effects of consumption.

Though transformative

consumer research has an

immediate practical orientation

, it

does not forsake scrupulous methodology or

perceptive theory

. In fact, it is mostly—if not only—through

meticulous description

and compelling explanation that the

findings can lead

to constructive

, actionable

implications

.Slide3

Transformative consumer researchproblems caused by unhealthy food consumption as a “pressing research topic” (Mick 2006);special issue on consumer welfare in the October 2008 issue of JCR;several TCR conferences, an edited book, and research funds through the TCR Grant Competition;Slide4

Recent research on food decision makingarticles on health, nutrition, food, consumption volumes, overeating, dieting, weight control, and obesity;in JCR alone, close to 50 articles have been published on these topics since 2000;attempt to identify the articles on food decision making that are among the more heavily cited ones of the 2928 articles published in JCR, JCP, JMR, JM and MkS between 2000 and 2011;Slide5

Citations of articles published between 2000 and 2011Slide6

Influential articles on food decision making (2000-2011)ArticleJournal

Citations

Fishbach

and

Dhar

(2005), Goals as excuses or guides: The liberating effect of perceived goal progress on choice

JCR

73

Chandon

and

Wansink

(2007), The biasing health halos of fast-food restaurant health claims: Lower

calorie

estimates and higher side-dish consumption intentions

JCR

53

Okada (2005), Justification effects on consumer choice of hedonic and utilitarian goods

JMR

66

Wansink

and

Chandon

(2006), Can "Low-Fat" nutrition labels lead to obesity?

JMR

53

Kahn and

Wansink

(2004), The influence of assortment structure on perceived variety and consumption quantities

JCR

66

Raghunathan

, Naylor, and Hoyer (2006), The unhealthy equal tasty intuition and its effects on taste inferences, enjoyment, and choice of food products

JM

38

Kozup

,

Creyer

, and Burton (2003), Making healthful food choices: The influence of health claims and nutrition information on consumers' evaluations of packaged food products and restaurant menu items

JM

69

Chandon

and

Wansink

(2007), Is obesity caused by calorie underestimation? A psychophysical model of meal size estimation

JMR

33

Wansink

and Van

Ittersum

(2003),

Bottoms up! The influence of elongation on pouring and consumption volume

JCR

56

Ramanathan

and Williams (2007), Immediate and delayed emotional consequences of indulgence: The moderating influence of personality type on mixed emotions

JCR

24

Scott,

Nowlis

, Mandel, and Morales (2008), The effects of reduced food size and package size on the consumption behavior of restrained and unrestrained

eaters

JCR

19

McFerran

, Dahl, Fitzsimons, and Morales (2010), I'll Have What She's Having: Effects of Social Influence and Body Type on the Food Choices of Others

JCR

15Slide7

Characteristics of articles on food decision making(based on Brinberg and McGrath, 1985)

The point of departure is often a real-world problem

from the

substantive

domain;

Substantive

domain

Conceptual

domain

Methodological

domainSlide8

Chandon and Wansink (2007)the “American obesity paradox”:“healthier” food lower in calories and fat density has become more popular, yetobesity rates continue to go uphow can this happen?consumers underestimate the calories of main dishes served by “healthy” restaurants;

this encourages consumers to order side dishes, drinks and deserts that contain more calories;Slide9

food decision making is studied in real-world settings (actual consumption, field studies)Chandon and Wansink (2007):field study with consumers who had just finished eating at either McDonald’s or SubwayRaghunathan, Naylor, and Hoyer (2006):housewarming party at the home of one of the authors where participants tasted either a “healthy” or “unhealthy” mango

lassi

MacInnis

and

Folkes

(2010):

“

a focus on people in a consumer role will best focus our field’s intellectual resources and foster original knowledge about

consumers”

Characteristics of articles on

food decision making (cont’d)Slide10

recent research on food decision making is having an impact beyond the narrow confines of academic consumer research;some researchers in this area have been able to bring a “fresh” perspective to entrenched fields such as nutrition by applying a marketing perspective to people’s eating behavior;the findings are intuitive and have clear policy implications; Characteristics of articles on food decision making (cont’d)Slide11

Challenges for food decision makinglots of creative ideas, but no conceptual integrationrecent examples:activation of overweight stereotypes on eating of indulgent foods;magical thinking by dieters;the

effect of future-oriented positive emotions (hopefulness) vs. present-oriented positive emotions (pride, happiness) on unhealthy food

consumption;

the effect of incidental pride on

indulgence;Slide12

recent examples (cont’d):the effect of expressing the energy content of snacks in kilojoules vs. kilocalories on the choice of healthy snacks;the effect of naming an identical food pasta vs. salad on dieters’ vs. nondieters’ consumption;

the effect of credit cards on unhealthy food

purchases

;

the

effect of powerlessness on the choice of larger food

options

;

Challenges for food decision making (cont’d)Slide13

Challenges for food decision making (cont’d)

Bublitz

,

Peracchio

, and Block (2010):Slide14

Challenges for food decision making (cont’d)

Chandon

and

Wansink

(2010):Slide15

Mechanisms:Taste inferencesPerceived healthfulnessPerception of food as dietary forbidden or dietary allowedServing size inferencesAnticipated consumption pleasure and guilt, or other food-related emotionsCalorie over- or underestimationCloseness to one’s ideal weightEngagement of the hot or cool system

Challenges for food decision making (cont’d)Slide16

Moderator variables:Hedonic vs. utilitarian foodsOverweight vs. normal weight consumersRestrained vs. unrestrained eatersDieters vs. nondietersSelf-controlSystematic vs. heuristic processing and NFCCognitive loadMotivation for accuracy

Gender

Challenges for food decision making (cont’d)Slide17

The need for conceptual workAlba’s (2012) essay “In defense of bumbling”:Contributions can be made in the absence of a complex conceptual scheme, process evidence, and one-tailed hypotheses, albeit at the personal cost of being labeled a “bumbler.”

consumer researchers as bumblers who position their research as theory testing post hoc;

Yadav’s

(2010) essay on the decline of conceptual articles:

during the most recent period studied (2003-2007), JCR had the lowest rate of conceptual articles (under 3 percent)

the lack of integrative theory building seems to be an unhealthy state of affairs for research on healthy eating;