When it comes to choosing between a candy bar and healthy snack, our preference may not be a matter of free will, shows a new study.
A new study has shown that the decisions we make to indulge ourselves or exercise self-control depend on how the choices are presented.
Study Says Gratitude Shapes Decisions Towards Social Good
New research has found that grateful people are likely to act virtuously not just for the people who caused them to feel grateful in the first place but for community as well.
Advertisement
In the study, researcher Juliano Laran from the University of Miami tested subjects to determine how certain words and concepts affected consumers' decisions for self-control or indulgence.
He found that consumer choices were affected by the actions most recently suggested to them by certain key words.
The tests involved a word-scramble containing words that suggested either indulgence (weight) or self-control (delicious).
![Mood Can Significantly Impact Memory-Based Decisions]( "Mood Can Significantly Impact Memory-Based Decisions")
Researchers say that deciding on whether to return to a restaurant often depends upon the mood you had on the earlier visit to the place.
"Participants who unscrambled sentences associated with self-control were more likely to choose a healthy snack (a granola bar) to be consumed right now, but an indulgent snack (a chocolate bar) to be consumed in the future," Laran said.
"Participants who unscrambled sentences associated with indulgence were more likely to choose an indulgent snack to be consumed right now but a healthy snack to be consumed in the future," Laran added.
A second study examined the same phenomenon, but it involved information associated with saving versus spending money.
Again, when information about saving money was active (participants had been exposed to words associated with saving money), participants said that they imagined themselves trying to save money while shopping in the present, but spending a lot of money while shopping in the future.
When words about spending money were suggested, the study showed the opposite result.
"The type of information (self-control or indulgence) that is currently active may influence a decision for the future. When information about self-control (indulgence) is currently active, decisions for the present will be virtuous (indulgent), while decisions for the future will be indulgent (virtuous). This result arises from people's need to balance behaviors performed in the present with behaviors that will be performed in the future," Laran said.
Laran concluded that both marketers and consumers could benefit from being aware of these effects.
The study has been published in in the Journal of Consumer Research.
Source: ANI
ARU
The tests involved a word-scramble containing words that suggested either indulgence (weight) or self-control (delicious).
Mood Can Significantly Impact Memory-Based Decisions
Researchers say that deciding on whether to return to a restaurant often depends upon the mood you had on the earlier visit to the place.
Advertisement
"Participants who unscrambled sentences associated with self-control were more likely to choose a healthy snack (a granola bar) to be consumed right now, but an indulgent snack (a chocolate bar) to be consumed in the future," Laran said.
"Participants who unscrambled sentences associated with indulgence were more likely to choose an indulgent snack to be consumed right now but a healthy snack to be consumed in the future," Laran added.
A second study examined the same phenomenon, but it involved information associated with saving versus spending money.
Again, when information about saving money was active (participants had been exposed to words associated with saving money), participants said that they imagined themselves trying to save money while shopping in the present, but spending a lot of money while shopping in the future.
When words about spending money were suggested, the study showed the opposite result.
"The type of information (self-control or indulgence) that is currently active may influence a decision for the future. When information about self-control (indulgence) is currently active, decisions for the present will be virtuous (indulgent), while decisions for the future will be indulgent (virtuous). This result arises from people's need to balance behaviors performed in the present with behaviors that will be performed in the future," Laran said.
Laran concluded that both marketers and consumers could benefit from being aware of these effects.
The study has been published in in the Journal of Consumer Research.
Source: ANI
ARU
Stress Influences The Rationality Of Our Decisions
Cognitive stress, such as distraction, could influence the balanced, logical approach to decision making, according to a new study.
Advertisement
Advertisement
|
Advertisement
Recommended Readings
Latest General Health News
The Pakistan Ministry has announced the commencement of a nationwide polio vaccination campaign beginning on October 2, aiming to immunize more children.
In a tragic incident, a woman in the US experienced the loss of all her limbs as a result of a bacterial outbreak linked to the consumption of contaminated fish.
FluMos-v2, a unique universal influenza vaccine candidate, undergoing a phase 1 trial at NIH, increases recipients' immunity against many influenza viruses.
In Pakistan, the polio campaign focuses on more than 270,000 children under the age of five years, residing in areas with insufficient vaccine coverage.
Dangers of Wrong Diagnosis: Diagnostic errors in healthcare can increase the risk of permanent disabilities and deaths.
