Fooled By Food

Question 1

Health Halo

Answer 1

Any food with a healthful identifier makes people think the calories are lower, even if it has nothing to do with calories

Question 2

Trigger foods

Answer 2

The first food you see influences what you would take (such as at a buffet)

Question 3

What are some of the tactics that the marketing industry uses to trick you into eating more/less healthy?

Answer 3

• Because we’re so used to perceiving height as the indicator for volume, we think that taller containers = more, when typically, something that is twice as wide holds twice as much
• Creating larger proportions: bigger utensils and bowls - our willpower is useless here
• When foods are labeled as small, we tend to eat more because we think we aren’t overindulging
• People underestimate the calories in restaurant meals
• Creating more food on the packaging
• Making the packaging design more attractive
• The convenience of frozen or microwave dinners
• Illusions in marketing through shapes, sizes, etc
• How the environment in which one stores and eats food impacts your food intake

Question 4

What size do people typically eat?

Answer 4

We tend to opt for the medium sized portions rather than either extreme portions (small or large). If a bag is labeled as a larger size, people eat less because they think eating a large portion is overindulging.

Question 5

How does price influence how much people buy

Answer 5

If you’re below the poverty line, you have to buy the smaller items because you’re watching your budget. But if you’re above the poverty line, you can afford larger items (Costco effect)