title: The structure of a food product assortment modulates the effect of providing choice on food intake.
abstract: Several authors showed that providing choice may increase food liking and food intake. However, the impact of choice may be modulated by assortment's characteristics, such as the number of alternatives or their dissimilarity. The present study compared the impact of choice on food liking and intake under the two following conditions: (1) when choosing a product to consume from among similar products versus dissimilar products; and (2) when choosing a product to consume from among pleasant products versus unpleasant products. Two experiments were carried out using the same design: the "apple puree" experiment (n = 80), where the volunteers choose from among similar products (apple purees varying in texture) and the "dessert" experiment (n = 80), where the volunteers choose from among dissimilar products (fruit dessert, dairy dessert, custard, pudding). During the first session, participants rated their liking for 12 products (apples purees or desserts). Then the participants were divided into a "pleasant" group (n = 40) in which volunteers were assigned three pleasant products, and an "unpleasant" group (n = 40) in which volunteers were assigned three unpleasant products. Finally, all of the volunteers participated in a choice session - volunteers were presented with their three assigned products and asked to choose one of the products, and a no-choice session - volunteers were served with one product that was randomly selected from among their three assigned products. Providing choice led to an increase in food liking in both experiments and an increase in food intake only for the desserts, namely only when the volunteers chose the product to consume from among "not too similar" alternatives. No effect of assortment's pleasantness was observed.
authors.affiliation: CNRS, UMR6265, Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, F-21000 Dijon, France; INRA, UMR1324, Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, F-21000 Dijon, France; Univ. Bourgogne Franche-Comté, UMR Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, F-21000 Dijon, France; UMR Physiologie de la Nutrition et du Comportement Alimentaire, AgroParisTech, INRA, Université Paris-Saclay, F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Odile
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Parizel
authors.affiliation: CNRS, UMR6265, Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, F-21000 Dijon, France; INRA, UMR1324, Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, F-21000 Dijon, France; Univ. Bourgogne Franche-Comté, UMR Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, F-21000 Dijon, France.
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sulmont-Rossé
authors.affiliation: UMR Physiologie de la Nutrition et du Comportement Alimentaire, AgroParisTech, INRA, Université Paris-Saclay, F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Gilles
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fromentin
authors.affiliation: UMR GENIAL, AgroParisTech, INRA, Université Paris-Saclay, 91300 Massy, France.
authors.forename: Julien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Delarue
authors.affiliation: CNRS, UMR6265, Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, F-21000 Dijon, France; INRA, UMR1324, Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, F-21000 Dijon, France; Univ. Bourgogne Franche-Comté, UMR Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, F-21000 Dijon, France; AgroSup Dijon, F-21000 Dijon, France.
authors.forename: Hélène
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Labouré
authors.affiliation: UMR Physiologie de la Nutrition et du Comportement Alimentaire, AgroParisTech, INRA, Université Paris-Saclay, F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Benamouzig
authors.affiliation: UMR Physiologie de la Nutrition et du Comportement Alimentaire, AgroParisTech, INRA, Université Paris-Saclay, F-75005 Paris, France. Electronic address: agnes.marsset-baglieri@agroparistech.fr.
authors.forename: Agnès
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marsset-Baglieri
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D004435:Eating / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology*; D005523:Food Supply / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D057181:Pleasure; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Food choice; Food intake; Food liking; Perceived variety; Product assortment; Sensory dissimilarity