Why it is so difficult to give up on unhealthy food products
In general, people prefer their current consumption, even if they would be better off with a different choice. This is interesting when we want to influence the present dietary habits of consumers to create a healthier diet. The appeal of hedonic food ensures that these unhealthy food choices are often made unconsciously. In my thesis, I focus on the endowment effect as one of these unconscious processes in consumer food choices, particularly with secondary school pupils. The endowment effect is the tendency to value a product higher when it is in one’s possession, than without possession. In other words, products in possession are hard to give up. The endowment effect may cause difficulty in giving up an unhealthy diet. Distractions in daily life may increase the endowment effect because conscious decision making is even harder then. The results of various experiments in my research showed that unhealthy food products were more sensitive to the endowment effect than healthier products. This suggests that it may be useful to involve unconscious processes in influencing consumer preferences. It also showed that there was a greater willingness to give up on part of the products in possession than to give up on multiple products simultaneously.