When There’s Salad on the Menu . . .

. . . you’re more likely to make an unhealthy choice. This is known as “vicarious goal fulfillment”, which is another way of saying “you think you’re going to do the right thing, but you don’t”. Unfortunately, it’s torpedoing the well-meant efforts of those fast food companies that put fruits and salads on their menus. A study reported in the online version of the Journal of Consumer Research shows that people convince themselves that they're making good choices when they're doing the opposite.

Duke University scientists questioned some 100 college students who were given the choice of three identically-priced side dishes: fries, chicken nuggets, or a baked potato or the same menu, but with a side salad added as a further option. About 10% percent of the students chose fries if they were only offered the three less healthy side dishes, but if a side salad was added, 33% chose the fries. Ironically, this increased selection of fries was more likely in students normally considered to have high levels of self-control.

Dr Fitzsimons, one of the researchers, explains the possible reason for this: “The presence of a salad on the menu has a liberating effect on people who value healthy choices. Simply seeing, and perhaps briefly considering, the healthy option fulfills their need to make healthy choices, freeing the person to give in to temptation and make an unhealthy choice. In fact, when this happens people become so detached from their health-related goals, they go to extremes and choose the least healthy item on the menu”. This study should warn everyone to watch out for occasions when they’re led to make less healthy choices without meaning to.