IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v139y2022icp173-183.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Too gritty to indulge: Grit and indulgent food choices

Author

Listed:
  • Wright, Scott A.
  • Schultz, Ainslie E.

Abstract

Grit—or perseverance in striving for long-term goals despite adversity, failure, and challenge (Duckworth et al., 2007)—has remained a focus in education and psychology for over a decade. Existing research, however, has yet to explore how grit might affect and guide consumption. In this article, we identify grit as an influential factor. Through one field study and three experiments, we reveal that individuals higher (vs. lower) in grit are less likely to choose and purchase indulgent foods. This occurs because individuals higher in grit perceive avoiding indulgent foods as more goal-relevant. However, changing the descriptive properties of the food using just-below (e.g., 199 vs. 200) calorie information can entice gritty consumers toward indulgence. Overall, these results show that grit impacts consumers’ product choices, and that businesses should consider grit when marketing and selling products that vary according to indulgence.

Suggested Citation

  • Wright, Scott A. & Schultz, Ainslie E., 2022. "Too gritty to indulge: Grit and indulgent food choices," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 173-183.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:139:y:2022:i:c:p:173-183
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.09.055
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296321007086
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.09.055?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bublitz, Melissa G. & Peracchio, Laura A., 2015. "Applying industry practices to promote healthy foods: An exploration of positive marketing outcomes," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(12), pages 2484-2493.
    2. Stijn M. J. van Osselaer & Chris Janiszewski, 2012. "A Goal-Based Model of Product Evaluation and Choice," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 39(2), pages 260-292.
    3. Mead, James A. & Richerson, Rob, 2018. "Package color saturation and food healthfulness perceptions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 10-18.
    4. Xie, Yi (Fionna) & Mandel, Naomi & Gardner, Meryl P., 2021. "Not all dieters are the same: Development of the Diet Balancing Scale," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 143-157.
    5. Young, L.R. & Nestle, M., 2002. "The contribution of expanding portion sizes to the US obesity epidemic," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 92(2), pages 246-249.
    6. Peggy J. Liu & Kelly L. Haws & Cait Lamberton & Troy H. Campbell & Gavan J. Fitzsimons, 2015. "Vice-Virtue Bundles," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(1), pages 204-228, January.
    7. Wright, Scott A. & da Costa Hernandez, José Mauro & Sundar, Aparna & Dinsmore, John & Kardes, Frank R., 2013. "If it tastes bad it must be good: Consumer naïve theories and the marketing placebo effect," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 197-198.
    8. Jungsil Choi & Yexin Jessica Li & Adriana Samper & Vicki G MorwitzEditor & Margaret C CampbellEditor & Lisa E BoltonAssociate Editor, 2019. "The Influence of Health Motivation and Calorie Ending on Preferences for Indulgent Foods," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 46(3), pages 606-619.
    9. Sule Alan & Teodora Boneva & Seda Ertac, 2019. "Ever Failed, Try Again, Succeed Better: Results from a Randomized Educational Intervention on Grit," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(3), pages 1121-1162.
    10. Ying Zhang & Ayelet Fishbach & Ravi Dhar, 2007. "When Thinking Beats Doing: The Role of Optimistic Expectations in Goal-Based Choice," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 34(4), pages 567-578, July.
    11. Besharat, Ali & Nardini, Gia, 2018. "When indulgence gets the best of you: Unexpected consequences of prepayment," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 321-328.
    12. Kenneth C. Manning & David E. Sprott, 2009. "Price Endings, Left-Digit Effects, and Choice," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 36(2), pages 328-335.
    13. Louro, M.J.S. & Pieters, R. & Zeelenberg, M., 2007. "Dynamics of multiple goal pursuit," Other publications TiSEM fcfc1f8f-6eae-41bb-af23-0, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    14. Daniel Mochon & Janet Schwartz & Josiase Maroba & Deepak Patel & Dan Ariely, 2017. "Gain Without Pain: The Extended Effects of a Behavioral Health Intervention," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(1), pages 58-72, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ricci, Michael A., 2022. "How better client service performance affects auditors' willingness to challenge management's preferred accounting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    2. Santana, Shelle & Thomas, Manoj & Morwitz, Vicki G., 2020. "The Role of Numbers in the Customer Journey," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 138-154.
    3. Koo, Minjung & Dai, Hengchen & Mai, Ke Michael & Song, Camilla Eunyoung, 2020. "Anticipated temporal landmarks undermine motivation for continued goal pursuit," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 142-157.
    4. Feurer, Sven & Haws, Kelly L., 2022. "Justifiable justifications in sequential indulgent choice situations: A framework for future research based on perceived exceptionality," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 630-639.
    5. Robert M. Schindler & Mathew S. Isaac & Rebecca Jen-Hui Wang, 2023. "Strategic use of just-below numbers in packaged-foods calorie information," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 237-250, June.
    6. Borham Yoon & Yeasun Chung & Kyungyul Jun, 2020. "Restaurant Industry Practices to Promote Healthy Sustainable Eating: A Content Analysis of Restaurant Websites Using the Value Chain Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-16, September.
    7. Johannes Abeler & Armin Falk & Fabian Kosse, 2021. "Malleability of Preferences for Honesty," CESifo Working Paper Series 9033, CESifo.
    8. Fabian T C Schmidt & Clemens M Lechner & Daniel Danner, 2020. "New wine in an old bottle? A facet-level perspective on the added value of Grit over BFI–2 Conscientiousness," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(2), pages 1-25, February.
    9. Lea Cassar & Mira Fischer & Vanessa Valero, 2022. "Keep Calm and Carry On: Immediate-vs. Six-Month Effects of Mindfulness Training on Academic Performance," CESifo Working Paper Series 10099, CESifo.
    10. C. Kirabo Jackson & Shanette C. Porter & John Q. Easton & Alyssa Blanchard & Sebastián Kiguel, 2020. "School Effects on Socioemotional Development, School-Based Arrests, and Educational Attainment," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 2(4), pages 491-508, December.
    11. Kessel, Dany & Mollerstrom, Johanna & van Veldhuizen, Roel, 2021. "Can simple advice eliminate the gender gap in willingness to compete?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 138, pages 1-1.
    12. Snir, Avichai & Levy, Daniel, 2021. "If You Think 9-Ending Prices Are Low, Think Again," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 6(1 (Forthc).
    13. Kai Barron & Heike Harmgart & Steffen Huck & Sebastian O. Schneider & Matthias Sutter, 2023. "Discrimination, Narratives, and Family History: An Experiment with Jordanian Host and Syrian Refugee Children," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 105(4), pages 1008-1016, July.
    14. Peggy J. Liu & Kelly L. Haws & Karen Scherr & Joseph P. Redden & James R. Bettman & Gavan J. Fitzsimons, 2019. "The Primacy of “What” over “How Much”: How Type and Quantity Shape Healthiness Perceptions of Food Portions," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(7), pages 3353-3381, July.
    15. Martinez, Luisa M. & Rando, Belén & Agante, Luisa & Abreu, Ana Maria, 2021. "True colors: Consumers’ packaging choices depend on the color of retail environment," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    16. Islam, Asad & Kwon, Sungoh & Masood, Eema & Prakash, Nishith & Sabarwal, Shwetlena & Saraswat, Deepak, 2020. "When Goal-Setting Forges Ahead but Stops Short," GLO Discussion Paper Series 526, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    17. Grosch, Kerstin & Haeckl, Simone & Kocher , Martin G., 2022. "Closing the gender STEM gap. A large-scale randomized-controlled trial in elementary schools," UiS Working Papers in Economics and Finance 2022/4, University of Stavanger.
    18. Roose, Gudrun & Van Kerckhove, Anneleen & Huyghe, Elke, 2017. "Honey they shrank the food! An integrative study of the impact of food granularity and its operationalization mode on consumption," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 210-220.
    19. Tan, Fuqiang & Li, Xi & Agarwal, Reeti & Joshi, Yatish & Yaqub, Muhammad Zafar, 2024. "Does multilingual packaging influence purchasing in retail segment? Evidence from multiple experiments," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    20. Debra A. Hoffmann & Jenna M. Marx & Jacob M. Burmeister & Dara R. Musher-Eizenman, 2018. "Friday Night Is Pizza Night: A Comparison of Children’s Dietary Intake and Maternal Perceptions and Feeding Goals on Weekdays and Weekends," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-12, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:139:y:2022:i:c:p:173-183. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.