A new study by the Journal of Consumer Research shows that the mere act of seeing a healthy item on a restaurant menu makes people more likely to order something separate they know isn’t good for them. The reason, the Duke University team behind the findings explains, rests in a phenomenon called “vicarious goal fulfillment,” which basically amounts to feeling a large goal has been met simply by taking a small action in the right direction (like considering a salad before choosing onion rings).
In the experiment, consumers who had scored high on a previous self-control test were asked to order from a three-item menu consisting of chicken nuggets, a baked potato, and fries, the last of which they were told was the least healthy option.
Within that context, the fries were the bottom choice. However, when a salad was added to the mix, the fries suddenly shot up in popularity. More interesting still, the people choosing them tended to have done exceptionally well in the initial self-control assessment.
“Adding one or two healthy items to a menu is essentially the worst thing you can do,” says lead author Gavan Fitzsimons, professor of marketing and psychology at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business. Thinking about the craziness of this, it started to dawn on me that the general phenomenon is probably even more pervasive.
When I buy cookies at the farmer’s market, for example, I feel wholesome. (They’re natural! I’m sure there’s organic stuff going on there!) Or when I’m eating at a place (or with a person, even) I perceive to be healthy, I’m more prone to go for more when it’s offered, long after I’m full.
I’m all about going for the occasional cookie–likewise a really satisfying meal. But I’d prefer to get there without ignoring the fact that the cookie has the same calorie content whether or not I eat it with steamed broccoli. I believe with a little effort, I’m capable of this type of insight on an excitingly consistent basis.
So: I’m wondering how to go about working with this. Is the mere leap into self-awareness going to be my quick fix? I’m not counting on it. In my experience, these pleasant, laundry-list revelations sound good on paper, but can feel pretty insubstantial in practice. To get myself to a more realistic action point, I put the question to a bunch of smart friends and loved ones. I was blown away by the creative answers and insight I got.
Here are the gold, silver, and bronze solutions that made the most sense to me:
1) Play to your strengths: (I got this one in multiple forms.) As far as I can tell, this isn’t just “stay on a restrictive diet” stuff. Instead of focusing on foods you want to avoid–and comparing them to those you feel you can easily have–keep your eyes on the prize with what you’ve wanted to eat all along. Who needs potato chips in lieu of an apple when you’re cooking ribeye for dinner?
2) Meaning, above all: This is a trickier formula to buy into, to be sure. But I still think it checks out. The idea is, before you make any health decision, to match the choice to your idea of who you are (“I am a person who doesn’t eat twelve cookies after lunch,” for example).
3) Worst case scenario, run with both: If, upon glimpsing a piece of fruit at the mental dessert station, your body goes into full revolt and insists on cake, there may be some appealing recourse. One of my favorite 2008 studies, from Pennsylvania State University, showed that people who ate an apple prior to something less healthy consumed far fewer calories, total, than those who launched straight into the second option. Be it filling your stomach, or maybe reprogramming your mind a little (who’s to say these halo effects can’t work in the reverse?), the breadth of possibility here is impressive to me.
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Camille
