A nudge in a healthier direction: How environmental cues help restrained eaters pursue their weight-control goal

详细信息    查看全文

• 作者：Aline E. Stä ; mpfli^a ; ^b ; ^{aline.staempfli@imu.unibe.ch} ; Sabrina Stö ; ckli^a ; ^{sabrina.stoeckli@imu.unibe.ch} ; Thomas A. Brunner^b ; ^{thomas.brunner@bfh.ch}
• 关键词：Environmental cue ; Restrained eating ; Weight-control goal ; Dieting ; Nudging
• 刊名：Appetite
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：1 March 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：110
• 期：Complete
• 页码：94-102
• 全文大小：948 K
• 卷排序：110

文摘

Losing weight is a goal for many people, but it is hard to pursue. However, dieting cues in the environment hold promise for improving individuals' eating behavior. For example, exposure to thin, human-like sculptures by the artist Alberto Giacometti has been found to promote healthy snack choices at a vending machine. Whether health- or weight-related processes drive such effects has not yet been determined. However, a detailed understanding of the content-related drivers of environmental cues' effects provides the first indications regarding a cue's possible use. Therefore, two laboratory studies were conducted. They examined the Giacometti sculptures' effects on unhealthy and healthy food intake (Study 1) and on the completion of weight- and health-related fragmented words (Study 2). Study 1 indicated that the sculptures are weight-related by showing that they reduced food intake independent of food healthiness. Furthermore, the “Giacometti effect” was moderated by restrained eating. Restrained eaters, who are known for their weight-control goal, ate less after having been exposed to the thin sculptures. The results of Study 2 pointed in the same direction. Restrained eaters completed more weight-related words after being exposed to the sculptures. Overall, these studies suggest that the thin sculptures are primarily weight-related cues and particularly helpful for restrained eaters. Environmental weight-control cues such as the Giacometti sculptures could act as a counterforce to our obesogenic environment and help restrained eaters pursue their weight-control goal. In this way, they could nudge food decisions in a healthier direction.