Undermining Desire

Reducing Unhealthy Choices by Highlighting Short-Term (vs. Long-Term) Costs

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2237121
AutoresPaul E Stillman (0000-0002-4413-0558, autor correspondente), Kaitlin Woolley (0000-0001-8727-5370)
EditoresStacy Wood (0000-0001-5256-1772), Szu-Chi Huang
Ano2023
Volume50
Fascículo3
Páginas554-575
Data de publicação2023-09-15
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of Consumer Research (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0093-5301 • E-ISSN: 1537-5277
EditoraOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/jcr/ucad004
OpenAlexW4317816469
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas5
Referências citadas86

What motivates consumers to avoid unhealthy behaviors (e.g., consuming sugar, energy drinks, and fast food)? Traditional interventions and lay intuition suggest that to motivate themselves, consumers can consider the negative long-term health consequences of their decisions. Yet, consumers still struggle to avoid unhealthy behaviors. Seven experiments (N = 4,021) offer a different approach. We find that considering short-term costs of unhealthy behaviors (e.g., irritability or indigestion after eating sugar) better curbs these behaviors than considering long-term costs or no costs. We theorize that short-term costs are more effective at reducing unhealthy behavior because they are more strongly associated with the act of consumption, both in terms of immediate timing and perceived likelihood of costs occurring. As such, short-term costs are better at undermining the reason for consuming unhealthily: anticipated enjoyment of the consumption experience. We test this process by (a) demonstrating mediation via increased association strength and subsequent decreased anticipated enjoyment, (b) manipulating the association strength between consumption and costs (i.e., same cost realized sooner vs. later), and (c) demonstrating moderation via consumers' goal for eating unhealthily. These results identify a powerful but underutilized self-regulation strategy-emphasizing short-term costs of unhealthy consumption-with implications for consumers and marketers

Business · Consumption (sociology) · Economics · Moderation · Psychological intervention · Public economics · Term (time) · Behavioral Health and Interventions · Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics · Eating Disorders and Behaviors · Marketing · Psychology · Social Psychology