Food Psychology and Overeating. Professor Brian Wansink

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• Food Psychology and Overeating
• Professor Brian Wansink
• Food Brand Lab -- Director
• Cornell University

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We Examine theWhys Behind
What Consumers Eat

• Who?
• 6 Profs from 5 depts
• 7 graduate students
• Hidden camera observation lab
• 2 restaurants 1 snack room
• A 3400 person national consumer mail panel
• 5 cooperating stores

• How?
• Lab experiments
• Field studies
• Consumer panels
• Data-base mining
• In-depth interviews
• Hidden In-kitchen cameras
• Since 1990 . . .
• 115 studies
• 43 referred journal articles
• 1 book ( 1 forthcoming)
• 70 focuses on consumption
• volume frequency

Marketing Nutrition 2004-Brian Wansink U of
Illinois Press
New
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What Unknowingly Influences Consumption?

• There Might be Systematic Explanations
• Step 1. Uncovering the Systematic Biases
• Step 2. Explaining these Biases
• Consider a Shopping Related Warm-up Example

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Warm-up Shopping ExampleWhy Do We Buy Too Many?

• Which Sign Sells More . . .
• Limit 12/person vs. No Limit/person
• 3 for 3.00 vs. 1 for 1.00
• Buy 18 for the weekend vs. Buy some for the
  weekend

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Why Do We Buy Too Many?

• We focus on what to buy
• . . . not how many
• We are highly suggestible to numerical signs
• We anchor on their numbers and adjust our
  purchase from there
• Examples 12 per person 3 for 99 Buy 6 for
  snacks
• We say, I usually buy 1 or 2, but . . .
• Numerical signs can end up doubling how much we
  buy
• Oh, but that never happens to me . . .

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Two Topics for Today . . .

• 1. How the Size and Shape of Containers Influence
  Consumption
• 2. Taste Suggestibility

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Beware of the Size and Shape of Containers

• General Finding About Package Size . . .
• Study 1. Hungry for Stale Movie Popcorn?
• Study 2. Do Shapes Bias Consumption?
• Study 3. The Philadelphia Bartender Study
• Study 4. How about a Different Form of Fat?

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Package Size Increases Consumption

• People who pour from larger containers eat more
  than those pouring from small
• Consistent across 47 of 48 categories
• Obviously, up to a point
• Mediated by price per unit (R2 only 23)
• Additional rationale . . .
• There are no concerns of running out
• More difficult to monitor
• Criticism --gtThis only applies to hedonic or
  tasty foods. For instance, the effects would be
  less for unliked foods.

General Finding Package Size Can Double
Consumption
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1. Hungry for Some Stale Movie Popcorn?

• General Question
• Does food quality moderate?
• Any interesting gender effects?
• The Field Study (Chicago, IL)
• Movie was Mel Gibson in Payback
• Free popcorn (Illinois History Week)
• 2x2 Design
• Large vs. X-Large Popcorn (pre-weighed)
• Fresh vs. 10-day-old Popcorn
• After the movie, ask questions weighed popcorn

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We Eat Much More from Big Containers
Grams Eaten

• People eat 45-50 more from extra-large popcorn
  containers than large ones
• They still eat 40-45 more with stale popcorn

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2. Do Serving Container Shapes Bias Consumption?

• Piagets Conservation of Volume
• Kids think tall vessels hold more than wide
  vessels
• They fixate on 1 dominate dimension (height)
• This should influence the consumption
• If tall glasses are thought to hold more . . .
• They should over-pour in to short wide glasses
• But they should believe they under-poured

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2. Do Serving Container Shapes Bias Consumption?

• 133 adolescents at a Nutrition Fitness Camp
  in NH
• Cafeteria at breakfast time
• Each was randomly given one glass when arriving
• Tall narrow juice glass or a Short wide juice
  glass
• After exiting the line . . .
• Asked some usage perception questions
• Usage volume was weighed

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Yes . . . Container Sizes and Shapes Bias Usage
Volume

• These vigilant weight watchers poured 88 more
  into short wide glasses, but believed they poured
  less
• Also true with adults
• (Jazz camp musicians in Westfield, MA)
• Hmmm . . . does this still happen with experts
  and a specific target volume (say 1.5 oz)?

Ounces of Juice
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3. Do Peripheral Cues Influence Experts with
Precise Target Volumes?

• 48 Philadelphia bartenders
• Paid 4 to be involved in a study on consumers
• Given 4 tall, slender (highball) glasses or 4
  short, wide (tumbler) glasses
• Given 4 full 1500 ml bottles and asked to pour
• Split in to . . .
• Less than 5 years experience
• More than 5 years experience

• Pour gin for gin tonic
• Pour rum for rum Coke
• Pour vodka for vodka tonic
• Pour whiskey for whiskey/rocks

Highball Glass
Tumbler
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When in Philadelphia, Should I Ask for a Tumbler
or a Highball Glass?

• Bartenders poured 28 more alcohol into tumblers
  than highball glasses
• Experience doesnt eliminate bias
• So, as a responsible bartender . . .
• Etch pouring marks on glasses
• Use highball glasses

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4. Does the Form (or type) of Fat Influence its
Consumption Volume?

• Is Olive Oil Healthier than Butter?
• Not if people over-pour.. .
• But do they?
• Two Italian restaurants Champaign, IL
• People randomly given butter or olive oil
• Secretly video-taped
• Coded by mystery diners
• Two measures . . .
• How much fat was eaten (oil or butter)
• How much bread was eaten

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People Ate More Olive Oil per Slice, But They
Ate Fewer Slices of Bread

• They ate 16 more fat/slice
• They ate 19 less bread
• A total calorie punch-line
• Dont focus only on target foods
• Focus also on companion foods

I knew that
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II. Can Labels Change the Taste of Foods?

• Study 1. The Curse of Soy Inside
• Study 2.. Descriptive Labels in the Cafeteria

Now with Soy
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1. The Curse of Soy Inside

• Can Labels make us taste what we believe we will
  taste?
• To the untrained palate, taste can be subjective
• Labels might provide the Power-of-Suggestion
• Phantom Ingredient Test
• Two Identical PowerBars
• One says contains 10 grams of soy protein
• One says contains 10 grams of protein
• Taste This New Product
• 70 adults taste and rate soy label
• 70 adults taste and rate ---- label

Now with Soy
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Sensory Suggestive Words
Now with Soy

• Phantom Ingredient Test
• Exact same PowerBar
• No soy in them
• Bad News
• People taste the non-existent soy and rate it
  low
• Good News
• They think its healthy
• (but they still hate it)
• Differences across segments

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3. Sensory Suggestiveness Descriptive
Labels in the Cafeteria

• How Suggestive is Our Palate?
• Goal Improve perception of cafeteria food?
• Descriptive vs. non-descriptive labels
• Six week field study -- six products rotated
  labels
• Self-selected -- evaluations after dining
• Will there be a Benefit or a Backfire?
• Benefit --gt Wow . . . I feel like Im in
  Brussels!
• Backfire --gt Im disappointed this is dry
  chocolate cake

• Seafood filet
• Chocolate Cake
• Succulent Italian
• Seafood filet
• Belgium Black Forest Chocolate Cake

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Well, I know what I like --gt Maybe Not

• People evaluate descriptive foods as more
  favorable
• Better taste, better texture, but as having more
  calories
• Caveats
• All foods were of acceptable quality
• Assimilating NOT contrasting
• Self-selection (vs. realism)
• Next steps
• Finding the point of reversal
• Moving this into the home . . .

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• Thank You . . .
• Professor Brian Wansink
• Food Brand Lab -- Director
• Cornell University

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• Professor Brian Wansink
• Food Brand Lab
• 350 Wholers Hall
• University of Illinois
• Champaign, IL 61820
• 217-244-0208
• Wansink_at_UIUC.edu
• Www.ConsumerPsychology.com