The influence of environmental cleanliness on food perceptions.

Background: Getting consumers to adopt healthier eating habits continues to be a puzzle for marketers and policymakers all over the globe. Nevertheless, research continues to identify factors that can influence consumers' food consumption. Aim: The purpose of this research is to explore how one relatively unexplored factor, namely the cleanliness of the surrounding environment, can affect perceptions and consumption. Methods: An online survey experiment presenting participants with either a clean or dirty environment scenario and asking subsequent questions about their dining experience was utilized. Results: Participants in a clean (vs. dirty) environment perceived their food to be healthier, fresher, and of higher quality, relative to a dirty environment. This effect, in turn, mediated the relationship between condition and perceptions of meal quality. Conclusion: Clean environmental conditions, though not directly related to the food products provided at food venues, can nevertheless have a strong influence on consumers' dining experience.

When virtue is not an option: Decision making in unhealthy food choices.

BACKGROUND: Health conscious consumers often make choices from constrained sets of food options, such as a restaurant menu, in which healthy options may not be present. AIM: The aim of this research was to examine how different decision strategies, such as selection versus rejection, influence the food option chosen when a choice set is restricted to unhealthy options. The mediating role of anticipated guilt was also explored. METHODS: An experiment was conducted using a hypothetical choice scenario, in which participants were randomly assigned to a decision making strategy (select versus reject), health objective (diet versus indulge), and relative preference for the options (choice between two preferred options versus one preferred and one non-preferred option) was manipulated. RESULTS: When using a selection strategy, consumers are more likely to choose their most preferred option, regardless of their health objectives, but when using a rejection strategy, health conscious consumers are more likely to avoid their most preferred option and consume a lesser liked alternative. Further, this effect is driven by reduced feelings of guilt. Important boundary conditions include consumer preference for the food options, as health conscious consumers will not reject their favorite option if they do not like the alternative. CONCLUSIONS: Decision making strategy influences health conscious consumers' choices between unhealthy food options.

The impact of holiday eating cues on self-regulatory bolstering for dieters and non-dieters.

OBJECTIVE: Two studies examined the hypothesis that the presence vs. absence of holiday food cues leads dieters to bolster self-regulatory resources and reduce consumption of a snack food. Study 1 evaluated snack-food consumption on a holiday vs. a non-holiday and in Study 2, the proposed underlying mechanism--the bolstering of self-regulatory resources when facing holiday-related cues--was explored. METHODS: Study 1 followed a quasi-experimental design in which participants (N = 152) consumed candies either on a holiday or a non-holiday. Dieting behaviour was measured and the main outcome measure was consumption quantity. In Study 2, a true experiment, participants (N = 110) read primes associated with holiday eating, holiday history or a neutral topic. Self-regulatory bolstering was assessed as the main outcome measure. RESULTS: Study 1 showed that dieters consume more of a food item on an ordinary day relative to a holiday; the consumption patterns of non-dieters did not vary based on holiday cues. Study 2 demonstrated that dieters, but not non-dieters, bolster self-regulatory resources to a greater extent in the presence vs. absence of a holiday food cue. CONCLUSION: Dieters are better equipped to defend their diet-related goals when facing strong holiday-related temptations than weaker, everyday temptations.