title: Fast food and financial impatience: a socioecological approach.
abstract: We investigated whether the prevalence of fast-food restaurants in the social ecology are associated with greater financial impatience at the national, neighborhood, and individual level. Study 1 shows that the proliferation of fast-food restaurants over the past 3 decades in the developed world was associated with a historic shift in financial impatience, as manifested in precipitously declining household savings rates. Study 2 finds that households saved less when living in neighborhoods with a higher concentration of fast-food restaurants relative to full-service restaurants. With a direct measure of individuals' delay discounting preferences, Study 3 confirms that a higher concentration of fast-food restaurants within one's neighborhood is associated with greater financial impatience. In line with a causal relationship, Study 4 reveals that recalling a recent fast-food, as opposed to full-service, dining experience at restaurants within the same neighborhood induced greater delay discounting, which was mediated behaviorally by how quickly participants completed the recall task itself. Finally, Study 5 demonstrates that pedestrians walking down the same urban street exhibited greater delay discounting in their choice of financial reward if they were surveyed in front of a fast-food restaurant, compared to a full-service restaurant. Collectively, these data indicate a link between the prevalence of fast food and financial impatience across multiple levels of analysis, and suggest the plausibility of fast food having a reinforcing effect on financial impatience. The present investigation highlights how the pervasiveness of organizational cues in the everyday social ecology can have a far-ranging influence.
authors.affiliation: Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Toronto ON M5S 3E6, Canada. sanford.devoe@rotman.utoronto.ca
authors.forename: Sanford E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: DeVoe
authors.forename: Julian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: House
authors.forename: Chen-Bo
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Zhong
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D060909:Economics, Behavioral; D005191:Family Characteristics; D057140:Fast Foods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005382:Financing, Personal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012201:Reward; D012931:Social Environment; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult