Bad popcorn in big buckets: Portion size can influence intake as much as taste

    Authors

    B. Wansink;J. Kim

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    J. Nutr. Educ. Behav.

    Keywords

    environmental cues; portion size; intake; palatability; serving size; freshness; stale popcorn; CONSUMPTION VOLUME; FOOD-INTAKE; BOWLS; CUES; Education, Scientific Disciplines; Nutrition & Dietetics

    Abstract

    Objective: It is often believed that people overeat the foods they like. We investigated whether environmental cues such as packaging and container size are so powerful that they can increase our intake of foods that are less palatable. Design, Setting, and Participants: In a 2 x 2 between-subjects design, 158 moviegoers in Philadelphia (57.6% male; 28.7 years) were randomly given a medium (120 g) or a large (240 g) container of free popcorn that was either fresh or stale (14 days old). Following the movie, consumption measures were taken, along with measures of perceived taste. Outcome Measures and Results: Moviegoers who were given fresh popcorn ate 45.3% more popcorn when it was given to them in large containers. This container-size influence is so powerful that even when the popcorn was disliked, people still ate 33.6% more popcorn when eating from a large container than from a medium-size container. Conclusions and Implications: Even when foods are not palatable, large packages and containers can lead to overeating. The silver lining of these findings may be that portion size can also be used to increase the consumption of less preferred healthful foods, such as raw vegetables.

    Journal Title

    Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior

    Volume

    37

    Issue/Number

    5

    Publication Date

    1-1-2005

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    242

    Last Page

    245

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000231428100005

    ISSN

    1499-4046

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