Research Design Connection: Influences on Snacking Behavior

by Sally Augustin, Ph.D. | July 13th, 2020

Organizations concerned about the wellbeing of their members now have another issue to consider. Cornil, Gomez, and Vasiljevic report that “At work, at school, at the gym club or even at home, consumers often face challenging situations in which they are motivated to perform their best…activating [triggering thoughts of] performance goals, whether in cognitive or physical domains, leads to an increase in consumption of high-calorie foods at the expense of good nutrition. This effect derives from beliefs that the function of food is to provide energy for the body (“food as fuel”) coupled with poor nutrition literacy, leading consumers to overgeneralize the instrumental role of calories for performance.” Yann Cornil, Pierrick Gomez, and Dimitri Vasiljevic. “Food as Fuel: Performance Goals Increase Consumption of High-Calorie Foods at the Expense of Good Nutrition.” Journal of Consumer Research, in press, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucaa012 Sally Augustin, PhD, a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design …