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Candy Bar Or Healthful Snack? Free Choice Not As Free As We Think

Date:
October 14, 2009
Source:
University of Chicago Press Journals
Summary:
If you think choosing between a candy bar and healthful snack is totally a matter of free will, think again. A new study shows that the choices we make to indulge ourselves or exercise self-control depend on how the choices are presented.
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If you think choosing between a candy bar and healthful snack is totally a matter of free will, think again. A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research shows that the choices we make to indulge ourselves or exercise self-control depend on how the choices are presented.

Author Juliano Laran (University of Miami) tested subjects to determine how certain words and concepts affected consumers' decisions for self-control or indulgence. He found that consumer choices were affected by the actions most recently suggested to them by certain key words.

The tests involved a word-scramble containing words that suggested either indulgence ("weight") or self-control ("delicious"). "Participants who unscrambled sentences associated with self-control were more likely to choose a healthy snack (a granola bar) to be consumed right now, but an indulgent snack (a chocolate bar) to be consumed in the future," writes Laran. Participants who unscrambled sentences associated with indulgence were more likely to choose an indulgent snack to be consumed right now but a healthy snack to be consumed in the future."

A second study examined the same phenomenon, but it involved information associated with saving versus spending money. Again, when information about saving money was active (participants had been exposed to words associated with saving money), participants said that they imagined themselves trying to save money while shopping in the present, but spending a lot of money while shopping in the future. When words about spending money were suggested, the study showed the opposite result.

"The type of information (self-control or indulgence) that is currently active may influence a decision for the future," write Laran. "When information about self-control (indulgence) is currently active, decisions for the present will be virtuous (indulgent), while decisions for the future will be indulgent (virtuous). This result arises from people's need to balance behaviors performed in the present with behaviors that will be performed in the future."

Both marketers and consumers can benefit from being aware of these effects, Laran concludes.


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Materials provided by University of Chicago Press Journals. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Laran et al. Choosing Your Future: Temporal Distance and the Balance between Self-Control and Indulgence. Journal of Consumer Research, 2009; 090924115652049 DOI: 10.1086/648380

Cite This Page:

University of Chicago Press Journals. "Candy Bar Or Healthful Snack? Free Choice Not As Free As We Think." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 14 October 2009. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091013162756.htm>.
University of Chicago Press Journals. (2009, October 14). Candy Bar Or Healthful Snack? Free Choice Not As Free As We Think. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091013162756.htm
University of Chicago Press Journals. "Candy Bar Or Healthful Snack? Free Choice Not As Free As We Think." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091013162756.htm (accessed March 28, 2024).

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