IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/hlthec/v23y2014i7p776-791.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

One Man'S Tall Is Another Man'S Small: How The Framing Of Portion Size Influences Food Choice

Author

Listed:
  • David R. Just
  • Brian Wansink

Abstract

Labels such as ‘Large’ or ‘Super‐size’ are often used to describe portion sizes. How do these normative labels influence consumer choice and how much they ultimately either consume or waste? Although one might believe that firms use normative labels to impact choice behavior through loss aversion, a field experiment shows consumer's willingness to pay is inconsistent with a loss aversion explanation. Although portions were clearly visible, individuals appeared to use the labels as objective information about their size. Importantly, a second study showed these labels also led people to eat less when food was given a larger sounding name than a smaller name (double vs. regular; regular vs. half‐size). If labels are used as size information, policies governing normative names could help reduce food consumption or reduce waste. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • David R. Just & Brian Wansink, 2014. "One Man'S Tall Is Another Man'S Small: How The Framing Of Portion Size Influences Food Choice," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(7), pages 776-791, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:23:y:2014:i:7:p:776-791
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.2949
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.2949
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/hec.2949?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shlomo Benartzi & Richard H. Thaler, 1995. "Myopic Loss Aversion and the Equity Premium Puzzle," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(1), pages 73-92.
    2. Amos Tversky & Daniel Kahneman, 1991. "Loss Aversion in Riskless Choice: A Reference-Dependent Model," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(4), pages 1039-1061.
    3. Alberto Abadie & David Drukker & Jane Leber Herr & Guido W. Imbens, 2004. "Implementing matching estimators for average treatment effects in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 4(3), pages 290-311, September.
    4. Gächter, Simon & Orzen, Henrik & Renner, Elke & Starmer, Chris, 2009. "Are experimental economists prone to framing effects? A natural field experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 70(3), pages 443-446, June.
    5. Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky, 2013. "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Leonard C MacLean & William T Ziemba (ed.), HANDBOOK OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING Part I, chapter 6, pages 99-127, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    6. Kahneman, Daniel & Knetsch, Jack L & Thaler, Richard H, 1990. "Experimental Tests of the Endowment Effect and the Coase Theorem," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(6), pages 1325-1348, December.
    7. Wansink, Brian & van Ittersum, Koert, 2003. "Bottoms Up! The Influence of Elongation on Pouring and Consumption Volume," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 30(3), pages 455-463, December.
    8. Kathryn M. Sharpe & Richard Staelin & Joel Huber, 2008. "Using Extremeness Aversion to Fight Obesity: Policy Implications of Context Dependent Demand," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(3), pages 406-422, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Brennan Davis & Collin R. Payne & My Bui, 2016. "Making Small Food Units Seem Regular: How Larger Table Size Reduces Calories to Be Consumed," Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(1), pages 115-124.
    2. Claudia Symmank, 2019. "Extrinsic and intrinsic food product attributes in consumer and sensory research: literature review and quantification of the findings," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 69(1), pages 39-74, February.
    3. J. M. Bauer & L. A. Reisch, 2019. "Behavioural Insights and (Un)healthy Dietary Choices: a Review of Current Evidence," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 3-45, March.
    4. Just, David R. & Gabrielyan, Gnel, 2018. "Influencing the food choices of SNAP consumers: Lessons from economics, psychology and marketing," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 309-317.

    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. Botond Kőszegi & Matthew Rabin, 2006. "A Model of Reference-Dependent Preferences," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 121(4), pages 1133-1165.
    2. Jacobs Martin, 2016. "Accounting for Changing Tastes: Approaches to Explaining Unstable Individual Preferences," Review of Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 67(2), pages 121-183, August.
    3. repec:cup:judgdm:v:7:y:2012:i:4:p:462-471 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Simon Gächter & Eric J. Johnson & Andreas Herrmann, 2022. "Individual-level loss aversion in riskless and risky choices," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 92(3), pages 599-624, April.
    5. M. Keith Chen & Venkat Lakshminarayanan & Laurie Santos, 2005. "The Evolution of Our Preferences: Evidence from Capuchin-Monkey Trading Behavior," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1524, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    6. Isabel Günther & Johannes K. Maier, 2014. "Poverty, Vulnerability, and Reference-Dependent Utility," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(1), pages 155-181, March.
    7. M. Levy, 2010. "Loss aversion and the price of risk," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(9), pages 1009-1022.
    8. Mohammed Abdellaoui & Han Bleichrodt & Corina Paraschiv, 2007. "Loss Aversion Under Prospect Theory: A Parameter-Free Measurement," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(10), pages 1659-1674, October.
    9. Neuman, Einat & Neuman, Shoshana, 2007. "Reference-Dependent Preferences and Loss Aversion: A Discrete Choice Experiment in the Health-Care Sector," IZA Discussion Papers 3238, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Koch, Christopher & Schunk, Daniel, 2007. "The Case for Limited Auditor Liability - The Effects of Liability Size on Risk Aversion and Ambiguity Aversion," Sonderforschungsbereich 504 Publications 07-04, Sonderforschungsbereich 504, Universität Mannheim;Sonderforschungsbereich 504, University of Mannheim.
    11. Choi, Kyoung Jin & Jeon, Junkee & Koo, Hyeng Keun, 2022. "Intertemporal preference with loss aversion: Consumption and risk-attitude," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    12. Eduard Marinov, 2017. "The 2017 Nobel Prize in Economics," Economic Thought journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 6, pages 117-159.
    13. Patricia Tovar, 2014. "External tariffs under a free-trade area," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(5), pages 656-681, August.
    14. M. Keith Chen & Venkat Lakshminarayanan & Laurie R. Santos, 2006. "How Basic Are Behavioral Biases? Evidence from Capuchin Monkey Trading Behavior," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 114(3), pages 517-537, June.
    15. James Alm & Carolyn J. Bourdeaux, 2013. "Applying Behavioral Economics to the Public Sector," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 206(3), pages 91-134, September.
    16. Eyal Zamir & Ilana Ritov, 2012. "Loss Aversion, Omission Bias, and the Burden of Proof in Civil Litigation," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(1), pages 165-207.
    17. Lasha Lanchava & Kyle Carlson & Blanka Šebánková & Jaroslav Flegr & Gideon Nave, 2015. "No Evidence of Association between Toxoplasma gondii Infection and Financial Risk Taking in Females," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(9), pages 1-17, September.
    18. Paul Heidhues & Botond Köszegi, 2004. "The Impact of Consumer Loss Aversion on Pricing," CIG Working Papers SP II 2004-17, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB), Research Unit: Competition and Innovation (CIG).
    19. Schwerter, Frederik, 2013. "Social Reference Points and Risk Taking," Bonn Econ Discussion Papers 11/2013, University of Bonn, Bonn Graduate School of Economics (BGSE).
    20. repec:cup:judgdm:v:1:y:2006:i::p:23-32 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Nicholas C. Barberis, 2012. "Thirty Years of Prospect Theory in Economics: A Review and Assessment," NBER Working Papers 18621, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. Hochman, Guy & Ayal, Shahar & Ariely, Dan, 2014. "Keeping your gains close but your money closer: The prepayment effect in riskless choices," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 107(PB), pages 582-594.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:wly:hlthec:v:23:y:2014:i:7:p:776-791. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/5749 .

    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.