title: A nudge in a healthier direction: How environmental cues help restrained eaters pursue their weight-control goal.
abstract: Losing weight is a goal for many people, but it is hard to pursue. However, dieting cues in the environment hold promise for improving individuals' eating behavior. For example, exposure to thin, human-like sculptures by the artist Alberto Giacometti has been found to promote healthy snack choices at a vending machine. Whether health- or weight-related processes drive such effects has not yet been determined. However, a detailed understanding of the content-related drivers of environmental cues' effects provides the first indications regarding a cue's possible use. Therefore, two laboratory studies were conducted. They examined the Giacometti sculptures' effects on unhealthy and healthy food intake (Study 1) and on the completion of weight- and health-related fragmented words (Study 2). Study 1 indicated that the sculptures are weight-related by showing that they reduced food intake independent of food healthiness. Furthermore, the "Giacometti effect" was moderated by restrained eating. Restrained eaters, who are known for their weight-control goal, ate less after having been exposed to the thin sculptures. The results of Study 2 pointed in the same direction. Restrained eaters completed more weight-related words after being exposed to the sculptures. Overall, these studies suggest that the thin sculptures are primarily weight-related cues and particularly helpful for restrained eaters. Environmental weight-control cues such as the Giacometti sculptures could act as a counterforce to our obesogenic environment and help restrained eaters pursue their weight-control goal. In this way, they could nudge food decisions in a healthier direction.
authors.affiliation: University of Bern, Institute of Marketing and Management, Department of Consumer Behavior, Engehaldenstrasse 4, 3012 Bern, Switzerland; Bern University of Applied Sciences, School of Agricultural, Forest, and Food Sciences HAFL, Food Science and Management, Länggasse 85, 3052, Zollikofen, Switzerland. Electronic address: aline.staempfli@imu.unibe.ch.
authors.forename: Aline E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Stämpfli
authors.affiliation: University of Bern, Institute of Marketing and Management, Department of Consumer Behavior, Engehaldenstrasse 4, 3012 Bern, Switzerland. Electronic address: sabrina.stoeckli@imu.unibe.ch.
authors.forename: Sabrina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stöckli
authors.affiliation: Bern University of Applied Sciences, School of Agricultural, Forest, and Food Sciences HAFL, Food Science and Management, Länggasse 85, 3052, Zollikofen, Switzerland. Electronic address: thomas.brunner@bfh.ch.
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Brunner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003463:Cues; D000072001:Diet, Healthy / Q000523:psychology*; D004038:Diet, Reducing / Q000523:psychology*; D004435:Eating / Q000523:psychology*; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology*; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012613:Sculpture / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Dieting; Environmental cue; Nudging; Restrained eating; Weight-control goal