The influence of social norms on anticipated snacking: An experimental study comparing different types of social norms.

Previous studies have found that social norms affect eating behavior for different types of social norm measures and manipulations as well as different types of eating behavior. The current study investigated the effects of descriptive, injunctive, and liking norms on intentions to consume healthy snacks and anticipated snack choice, compared to a no-norm control condition. Moreover, we distinguished between descriptive norms that stress the frequency versus the quantity of food consumption. An experiment was conducted among 189 young adults. It was hypothesized that participants who received a descriptive quantity or frequency norm would intend to consume, and make an anticipated selection of, more low-calorie snacks than participants who received a no-norm control message. Due to inconsistency or lacking evidence regarding the effects of the other types of norms on eating behavior, no hypotheses were formulated for the injunctive and liking norm conditions. The hypothesis was partly confirmed. Descriptive quantity and frequency norms did not result in a stronger intention to consume healthy snacks in the upcoming week, but they did result in lower-calorie snack choices when people were asked to select three snacks that they planned to eat on the following day. No other differences between the conditions were found. These findings show that emphasizing both how much and how often most other people consume healthy foods affects anticipated healthy food choices. This can provide health professionals more options to mobilize the power of descriptive social norms for affecting health behavior change.

Consuming media, consuming food: investigating concurrent TV viewing and eating using a 7-d time use diary survey.

OBJECTIVE: One explanation for the relationship between TV viewing and obesity is that people may (over)eat while watching TV. The current study investigated associations between TV viewing and the time spent on (concurrent) eating in a naturalistic setting among a general population sample. DESIGN: Preregistered secondary data analyses were performed of a diary survey in which respondents reported their time use in 10-min blocks for 7 d. SETTING: Concurrent TV viewing and eating was operationalised as all blocks in which TV viewing and eating occurred simultaneously. Furthermore, the TV content respondents watched was coded as food-related (i.e. culinary content) or non-food related. PARTICIPANTS: The sample composed of 2292 adults (58·9 % female) in the Netherlands, aged ≥ 20 years, from all educational levels (18·1 % low, 29·8 % middle and 51·4 % high). RESULTS: More than half of the respondents (51·3 %) reported concurrent TV viewing and eating at least once during the 7-d diary period. The average eating occasion was longer in duration while watching TV (v. without media use), and the total time spent on eating was longer on days of concurrent TV viewing and eating (v. days of eating without media use). The percentage of TV viewing time spent on concurrent eating did not differ between food-related and non-food-related TV content. CONCLUSIONS: Eating while watching TV was related to an increased time spent on eating. Even though energy intake was not assessed, these findings from a naturalistic setting provide further evidence that concurrent TV viewing and eating may contribute to overeating.

See the cake and have it too? Investigating the effect of watching a TV cooking show on unhealthy food choices.

This study tested whether exposure to food-related (vs. non-food related) TV content would increase unhealthy food choices in unsuccessful restrained eaters (i.e., chronic dieters with low perceived self-regulatory success; PSRS), decrease unhealthy food choices in successful restrained eaters (i.e., chronic dieters with high PSRS), and would not affect food choices in unrestrained eaters (i.e., non-dieters). As such, we attempted to (1) explain previous mixed findings on behavioral effects of exposure to food-related TV content, and (2) generalize previous findings on successful and unsuccessful restrained and unrestrained eaters' differential reactivity to isolated food cues (e.g., food words) to food cues embedded in TV content. In a one-factorial between-subjects experiment, participants viewed a cooking segment in which high-calorie cakes were prepared (n = 50) or a non-food segment (n = 62) of a TV show. The percentage of unhealthy (vs. healthy) food choices in a computerized choice task served as dependent variable. Eating restraint and PSRS were measured afterwards. In contrast to the hypothesis, no three-way interaction between TV content, eating restraint, and PSRS on the percentage of unhealthy food choices was found. However, it was found that overall, people with lower levels of PSRS made a higher percentage of unhealthy food choices compared to people with higher levels of PSRS. Contrasting findings from previous research using isolated food cues, this study showed no evidence of unsuccessful restrained eaters' heightened susceptibility to food cues in TV content, possibly explained by a lower salience of or attention to food cues.

Food at first sight: Visual attention to palatable food cues on TV and subsequent unhealthy food intake in unsuccessful restrained eaters.

BACKGROUND: This study investigated whether unsuccessful dieters show heightened visual attention to food cues in TV content and how visual attention influences subsequent unhealthy food intake. This study adds to prior literature by investigating the influence of visual attention to food cues on food intake with actual media content (i.e., instead of isolated food cues such as pictures or words) and by differentiating between chronic dieters (i.e., restrained eaters) who vary in dieting success (i.e., perceived self-regulatory success [PSRS]). To get a more detailed insight into different processes of visual attention, two measures of attention (i.e., initial orientation and attention duration) were examined. METHODS: Unrestrained (n = 34) and restrained eaters (n = 28) varying in PSRS watched a talk show containing subtly depicted, palatable food cues. While watching, their visual attention to the food cues was measured with an eye-tracker. Unhealthy food intake was assessed afterwards in a taste test. RESULTS: A two-way interaction between eating restraint and PSRS on initial visual orientation was found: unsuccessful restrained eaters' initial orientation to food cues was faster compared to that of successful restrained eaters. There were no significant findings on attention duration. Furthermore, visual attention did not predict unhealthy food intake. DISCUSSION: Unsuccessful restrained eaters' fast initial orientation, but no longer attention duration, suggests that self-regulation may be important at early stages of visual attention. Future research on this topic should continue to differentiate between initial orientation and attention duration, as well as between more and less successful restrained eaters. The lack of findings on unhealthy food intake suggest that food cues embedded in actual media content might have less influence on eating behavior compared to isolated food cues.

Watch what you watch: The effect of exposure to food-related television content on the accessibility of a hedonic eating goal.

BACKGROUND: This study examined whether seeing food-related TV content affected the accessibility of a hedonic eating goal differently for people scoring relatively high or low on chronic dieting (i.e., eating restraint) and perceived self-regulatory success (i.e., PSRS). METHODS: Three between-subjects experiments were conducted in which participants were exposed to food-related or non-food related TV content. In Experiment 1 (student sample, N = 111) and Experiment 2 (community sample, N = 69) participants watched TV commercials for food or non-food products and in Experiment 3 (student sample, N = 102) a cooking show or a non-food TV show. Hedonic eating goal accessibility was assessed by means of a lexical decision task (LDT). Eating restraint and PSRS were measured afterwards. RESULTS: The expected three-way interaction between TV content, eating restraint, and PSRS on hedonic eating goal accessibility was not found in Experiments 1 and 2. In Experiment 3, a three-way interaction was found although effects were short-lived. As expected, watching food-related versus non-food related TV content resulted in more hedonic eating goal accessibility among people relatively high in eating restraint but low in PSRS (i.e., unsuccessful restrained eaters), but in less accessibility among participants relatively high in both eating restraint and PSRS (i.e., successful restrained eaters). DISCUSSION: As effects were found after watching a cooking show (Experiment 3) but not after watching TV commercials (Experiments 1 and 2), future research should explore whether the type of TV content might play a role in the effects of food-related TV content on hedonic eating goal accessibility, as well as whether the effects found on goal accessibility translate into actual food choices.

Short and Sweet: The Persuasive Effects of Message Framing and Temporal Context in Antismoking Warning Labels.

Current warning labels on cigarette packages are generally focused on long-term losses that can be incurred if one continues smoking. This study compares the effects of these labels against warning labels that stress short-term losses of smoking as well as labels that stress short- and long-term benefits that can be obtained when one quits smoking. A 2 (message frame: gain vs. loss) × 2 (temporal context: short vs. long term) between-subjects experiment was conducted among 132 smokers, with attitude toward quitting smoking and intention to quit smoking, as well as information-seeking behavior and message recall, as the dependent variables. Findings were in line with theory regarding message framing and temporal discounting, showing enhanced effects of gain over loss frames and short-term over long-term consequences on warning labels for attitudes and intentions. In addition, an interaction between message frame and temporal context was found. Especially, gain-framed messages showed stronger effects on intentions to quit smoking than loss-framed messages when warning labels concerned short-term outcomes. Findings suggest that current warning labels, with an emphasis on long-term negative health outcomes, should be reconsidered.

Effects of Previous Fruit Intake, Descriptive Majority Norms, and Message Framing on Fruit Intake Intentions and Behaviors in Dutch Adults Across a 1-Week Period.

OBJECTIVE: To test the effects of descriptive norm and message framing on fruit intake (intentions) in Dutch adults. DESIGN: Randomized pretest-posttest study using a 2 × 2 design. SETTING: Internet-based. PARTICIPANTS: Dutch adults recruited via leaflets and announcements on intranet and Internet and who provided immediate intention (n = 294) and 1-week follow-up intention and fruit intake data (n = 177). INTERVENTION: Messages combining information on intake of others (low vs high intake) with information about positive or negative outcomes of (in)sufficient fruit intake. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Fruit intake intentions and fruit intake. ANALYSIS: Analyses of covariance. RESULTS: Those already consuming sufficient fruit and receiving negative information about insufficient fruit intake increased their motivation to consume sufficient fruit immediately (P = .03), but not at 1-week follow-up. Those who read positive information about sufficient fruit intake reported higher fruit consumption than those who read negative information about insufficient fruit intake (P = .03). This was stronger in those already consuming sufficient fruit. There were no effects of descriptive norm information (P > .19). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Information about outcomes was more persuasive than descriptive majority norm information. Effects were generally stronger in those already consuming sufficient fruit.

Healthy and unhealthy social norms and food selection. Findings from a field-experiment.

The behavior of others in people's social environment (i.e., descriptive norms), as well as their opinions regarding appropriate actions (i.e., injunctive norms) strongly influence people's decisions and actions. The goal of this study was to extend prior laboratory research on the influence of social norms on food choices, by conducting a field-experiment in an on-campus food court. One of three different messages was posted on a given day: a healthy descriptive norm, healthy injunctive norm, or an unhealthy descriptive norm. Effects of these social norms messages on food choice were compared against each other and a no-message control condition. In total, 687 students reported their food choice through a questionnaire provided to them. Food choices were analyzed for participants who reported being exposed to one of the social norms signs and those in the control condition (N=220). Findings showed that the healthy descriptive norm resulted in more healthy food choices, compared to an unhealthy descriptive norm, as well as the control condition. The difference between the injunctive healthy norm and the control condition was not significant, though those in the injunctive norm condition did make more healthy decisions, than those in the unhealthy descriptive norm condition. Implications with regard to theory and practice are discussed.

Intervening or interfering? The influence of injunctive and descriptive norms on intervention behaviours in alcohol consumption contexts.

In situations when people have been drinking, they often find it difficult to tell their friends to stop drinking, or not to drive home. Most people want to avoid being seen as a busybody, which may inhibit advice giving. In the current study, we investigated how positive and negative descriptive and injunctive norms (in alcohol consumption contexts) affect people's motivation to engage in intervening (e.g., ask a friend to stop drinking) and non-intervening (e.g., let friends make their own drinking decisions) behaviours. An online experiment with a four weeks post-test was conducted. Results showed that positive social norms resulted in a higher motivation to engage in intervening behaviour and a lower motivation to engage in non-intervening behaviour, compared to negative social norms. Injunctive, but not descriptive, norms had an effect on intervening behaviour four weeks after the manipulations. In line with prior findings, we also found that injunctive norms, in comparison to descriptive norms, are less amenable to change but that their influence is more enduring. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

The role of issue familiarity and social norms: findings on new college students' alcohol use intentions.

BACKGROUND: Scholars in a variety of disciplines are interested in understanding the conditions under which social norms affect human behavior. Following the distinction made between descriptive and injunctive norms by the focus theory of normative conduct, the theory of normative social behavior predicts that the influence of descriptive norms on behavior is moderated by injunctive norms, outcome expectations, and group identity. We extended the theory by testing the proposition that the influence of descriptive norms on behavior would be greater under conditions of greater issue familiarity, defined as the ease with which one can cognitively access the behavior or behavioral issue. DESIGN AND METHODS: The model was tested in the domain of alcohol consumption intentions by conducting a survey among incoming students (n=719) to a large university in the United States. Data indicated that students in the sample were well representative of the university population. RESULTS: The influence of descriptive norms on behavioral intentions was moderated by issue familiarity, as predicted. Familiarity was a facilitator of behavior: the influence of descriptive norms on behavioral intentions was greater under conditions of high, rather than low, familiarity. The overall model explained 53% of the variance in alcohol consumption intentions. CONCLUSIONS: Public health interventions promoting health behaviors need to take into account the extent to which the behaviors are familiar to the target audience. The influence of norms appears to be weaker when the behavior is unfamiliar or novel. Implications for theory and interventions for reducing alcohol consumption are discussed.