One Tasty Bite May be More Than Enough

Researchers have studied goals and behaviors in consumers using eating as an indicator or model in their experiments. In an article published in the Journal of Consumer Research they describe the effect of eating one small chocolate truffle on subsequent eating behavior.

Volunteers who ate a truffle desired ice cream, pizza, and potato chips more than people who were told to resist eating a truffle. The explanation for this is that eating the truffle unconsciously activates a goal of indulgence; resisting the truffle activates health goals.

Once they feel their goals have been met, however, they tend to reverse their behavior. Thus when those who resisted the truffle were told they had done a good job, they said they wanted fatty foods more than healthy foods, i.e. the opposite of their health goal.

In a second study, people were again told to eat a truffle or asked to resist one. They were then shown several products regarded as status symbols (a nice shirt, an Apple computer, an expensive watch). People who had taken a truffle desired the status products significantly more than those who had resisted.

These studies were published in a journal dedicated to how consumers behave, so it’s not surprising that there are implications for marketers in the findings. These are not obvious from reading the summary – I defy you, gentle reader, to understand anything beyond the first sentence. But it is understandable that stores may use samples as a way to motivate customers to indulge further, i.e. to desire and buy an object. The solution, whether you are trying to lose weight or to resist spending too much, is to refuse the truffle (or whatever the sample may be), and to ignore any “good job” remarks about your will power.