Affiliation:
1. VA Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, University of Pennsylvania
2. Carnegie Mellon University
3. Herbert A. Simon Professor of Economics and Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University
Abstract
Encouraging consumers to select meals in advance rather than at mealtime has been proposed as a strategy to promote healthier eating decisions, taking advantage of the improved self-control that is thought to accompany decisions about the future. In two field studies at an employee cafeteria and a third in a university setting, we examine how time delays between placing a lunch order and picking it up affect the healthfulness of that lunch. The first study, a secondary data analysis, finds that longer delays between placing an order and picking up the meal are associated with reductions in calorie content. The second study tests the causality of this relationship by exogenously restricting some lunch orders to be substantially delayed, leading to a marginally significant (approximately 5%) reduction in calories among delayed orders. The third study compares orders for truly immediate consumption versus orders placed in advance and demonstrates a significant (100 calorie, or approximately 10%) reduction in lunch calories. We discuss evidence regarding possible theoretical mechanisms underlying this effect, as well as practical implications of our findings.
Subject
Marketing,Economics and Econometrics,Business and International Management
Cited by
51 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献