Nitika Garg, Brian Wansink, & J. Jeffrey Inman
Executive Summary
The link between affect or mood and consumption has been puzzling for health care professionals, consumers, managers, and policy makers who are interested in better controlling food intake. Although there is emerging evidence that mood can influence what a person eats, there has been little evidence regarding how it influences how much a person eats. Labeling and nutrition information is a critical concern among regulators, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Although prior research has effectively examined how health claims and nutrition labels influence health beliefs and purchase intentions, a pressing issue for the Food and Drug Administration is whether such information can realistically influence food intake on a single eating occasion.
Although incidental affect has been shown to influence both attitude and purchase behavior, it has not been extended to actual consumption. This research investigates whether specific affective states, such as happiness and sadness, influence food consumption and whether this influence is moderated by factors such as information and the nature of the product (hedonic versus less hedonic). A preliminary test and two lab studies show that people eat larger amounts of hedonic and unhealthy foods (buttered popcorn and M&Ms) when they are in a sad state than when in a happy state and that this effect is attenuated when nutritional information is present. Specifically, when nutritional information is salient, it is found to be an effective tool in helping people overcome the deleterious effects of negative mood states on consumption. In contrast to this finding, people tend to eat larger amounts of a less hedonic but healthy product (raisins) when they are in a happy state than when they are in a sad state. This illustrates a product–affect asymmetry that emphasizes the importance of examining the interactive effect of mood and nature of the product on people’s consumption. The authors discuss implications of these findings for responsible marketers, health professionals, and health conscious consumers in the context of campaigns and individual efforts.
Biography
Nitika Garg is Assistant Professor of Marketing in the School of Business Administration at the University of Mississippi. She received her doctoral degree from the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Garg’s research focuses on the influence of affect on consumer judgment and decision making. In particular, her work examines how specific emotions, such as sadness, happiness, and anger, influence consumers’ decisions, including choice, consumption, and risk-taking tendencies. Her work has been published in Journal of Consumer Research.
Brian Wansink is the John S. Dyson Chair of Marketing and of Nutritional Science in the Applied Economics and Management Department at Cornell University. His teaching and research interests are on how advertisements, packaging, and personality traits influence the usage frequency and usage volume of healthful foods. Along with more than 75 journal articles, he has written the books Marketing Nutrition, Consumer Panels, Asking Questions, and Mindless Eating. In addition to being a professor, he is the director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, which focuses on the psychology behind what people eat and how often they eat it. A primary focus of the lab is in helping companies develop “win–win” ways in which they can help people eat more nutritiously and to control how much they eat. The lab’s work has won national and international awards for its relevance to consumers. His research has been widely featured on 20/20, BBC News, The Learning Channel, all news networks, and has appeared multiple times on the front pages of The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.
J. Jeffrey Inman is the Albert Wesley Frey Professor of Marketing in the Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh, which he joined in 2000. Previously, he was on the faculties at the University of Wisconsin (1994–2000) and the University of Southern California (1991–1994). His research focuses on consumption behavior and consumer decision making. He is on the editorial board of Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, and Journal of Retailing. He is also an associate editor at Journal of Marketing Research and is president of the Journal of Consumer Research Policy Board, representing the American Economic Association. Jeff received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from General Motors Institute (now Kettering University) in 1979, his MBA from Indiana University in 1982, and his PhD from the University of Texas in 1990. His work has appeared in Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Retailing, and California Management Review. Before venturing into academia, he was a production supervisor for General Motors and a semiconductor distribution manager for Texas Instruments.
Journal of Marketing, Vol. 71, No. 1, January 2007
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