title: Food compensation: do exercise ads change food intake?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Past research has shown that promotional messages such as food advertising influence food consumption. However, what has gone largely unexplored is the effect of exercise advertising on food intake. This study experimentally tested the effects of exposure to exercise commercials on food intake at a lunch meal as compared to the effects of control commercials.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prior to eating lunch, 125 participants (71 women, 54 men) watched 8 commercials, either all related to exercise or fitness (n=67) or neutral products (i.e. car insurance) (n=58). The meal consisted of a pasta dish with tomato sauce, salad and chocolate pudding. The post-lunch questionnaire included questions about body mass index, exercise habits, motivation and dietary restraint.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants exposed to exercise commercials reduced their caloric intake by 21.7% relative to the control condition. Additionally, watching exercise messages increased the perceived healthiness and liking of the meal. Although exercise habits and intentions did not moderate the effect of commercial condition on food intake, we also found that this intake reduction was driven by participants with higher body mass index levels.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results imply that exercise messages may serve as a reminder of the link between food and physical activity and affect food consumption. It also highlights the need for increased awareness that these messages have powerful influences not only on exercise behavior, but also on closely related behaviors such as eating.
authors.affiliation: Wageningen University, Marketing and Consumer Behaviour Group, Hollandseweg 1, 6706 KN Wageningen, The Netherlands. Ellen.vanKleef@wur.nl
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: van Kleef
authors.forename: Mitsuru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wansink
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D015992:Body Mass Index; D004032:Diet; D004435:Eating / Q000523:psychology*; D015444:Exercise / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006184:Habits; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D009426:Netherlands; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000523:psychology*; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013690:Television; D055815:Young Adult