Stacey Finkelstein
I occasionally post interesting articles about psychology, behavioral economics, medicine, and health on twitter. You can follow me at @drstaceyf
My work has been featured on marketplace money:
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/freakonomics-radio/when-negative-positive-freakonomics-feedback
http://www.freakonomics.com/blog/
Supervisors: Ayelet Fishbach, Ann McGill, Reid Hastie, and Wilhelm Hoffman
My work has been featured on marketplace money:
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/freakonomics-radio/when-negative-positive-freakonomics-feedback
http://www.freakonomics.com/blog/
Supervisors: Ayelet Fishbach, Ann McGill, Reid Hastie, and Wilhelm Hoffman
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Papers by Stacey Finkelstein
Behavioral economics and psychology have been applied to altering food choice, but most studies have not measured food intake under free-living conditions.
Objectives
To test the effects of a strategy that pairs positive stimuli (ie, stickers and cartoon packaging) with vegetables and presents them as the default snack.
Design
A randomized controlled trial was conducted with children who reported consumption of fewer than two servings of vegetables daily. Children (aged 3 to 5 years) in both control (n=12) and treatment (n=12) groups received a week’s supply of plainly packaged (ie, generic) vegetables, presented by parents as a free choice with an alternative snack (granola bar), during baseline (Week 1) and follow-up (Week 4). During Weeks 2 and 3, the control group continued to receive generic packages of vegetables presented as a free choice, but the treatment group received vegetables packaged in containers with favorite cartoon characters and stickers inside, presented by parents as the default choice. Children in the treatment group were allowed to opt out of the vegetables and request the granola bar after an imposed 5-minute wait.
Statistical analysis
General Linear Model repeated measures analysis of variance was conducted to compare vegetable and granola bar intake between control and treatment groups across the 4-week study. Both within- and between-subjects models were tested.
Results
A time×treatment interaction on vegetable intake was significant. The treatment group increased vegetable intake from baseline to Week 2 relative to control (P<0.01), but the effects were not sustained at Week 4 when the treatment was removed. Granola bar intake decreased in the treatment group at Week 2 (P≤0.001) and Week 3 (P≤0.005) relative to baseline.
Conclusions
Parents were able to administer feeding practices derived from behavioral economics and psychology in the home to increase children’s vegetable intake and decrease intake of a high-energy-density snack. Additional studies are needed to test the long-term sustainability of these practices.
to dissociate from beloved but unhealthy food brands is an intuitively appealing means to shift consumption
away from unhealthy options and toward healthy options. Contrary to this position, we
demonstrate that dissociating from unhealthy but beloved brands diminishes people’s interest in consuming
vegetables because the dissociation depletes self-regulatory resources. Across three experimental
studies, we manipulate dissociation from two beloved brands both implicitly (studies 1–2) and explicitly
(study 3) and observe effects on both preference for vegetables (studies 2–3) and actual vegetable
consumption (study 1). In study 1, participants consumed fewer vegetables following dissociation from
(vs. association with) a beloved candy brand. Study 2 demonstrates that the effect of depletion on preference
for vegetables is more pronounced for those who strongly identify with the brand, as these
individuals are most depleted by the dissociation attempt. Finally, study 3 illustrates that the difficulty
experienced when trying to dissociate from beloved brands drives the observed effects on vegetable preference
and consumption for those who strongly (vs. weakly) identify with the brand.
Behavioral economics and psychology have been applied to altering food choice, but most studies have not measured food intake under free-living conditions.
Objectives
To test the effects of a strategy that pairs positive stimuli (ie, stickers and cartoon packaging) with vegetables and presents them as the default snack.
Design
A randomized controlled trial was conducted with children who reported consumption of fewer than two servings of vegetables daily. Children (aged 3 to 5 years) in both control (n=12) and treatment (n=12) groups received a week’s supply of plainly packaged (ie, generic) vegetables, presented by parents as a free choice with an alternative snack (granola bar), during baseline (Week 1) and follow-up (Week 4). During Weeks 2 and 3, the control group continued to receive generic packages of vegetables presented as a free choice, but the treatment group received vegetables packaged in containers with favorite cartoon characters and stickers inside, presented by parents as the default choice. Children in the treatment group were allowed to opt out of the vegetables and request the granola bar after an imposed 5-minute wait.
Statistical analysis
General Linear Model repeated measures analysis of variance was conducted to compare vegetable and granola bar intake between control and treatment groups across the 4-week study. Both within- and between-subjects models were tested.
Results
A time×treatment interaction on vegetable intake was significant. The treatment group increased vegetable intake from baseline to Week 2 relative to control (P<0.01), but the effects were not sustained at Week 4 when the treatment was removed. Granola bar intake decreased in the treatment group at Week 2 (P≤0.001) and Week 3 (P≤0.005) relative to baseline.
Conclusions
Parents were able to administer feeding practices derived from behavioral economics and psychology in the home to increase children’s vegetable intake and decrease intake of a high-energy-density snack. Additional studies are needed to test the long-term sustainability of these practices.
to dissociate from beloved but unhealthy food brands is an intuitively appealing means to shift consumption
away from unhealthy options and toward healthy options. Contrary to this position, we
demonstrate that dissociating from unhealthy but beloved brands diminishes people’s interest in consuming
vegetables because the dissociation depletes self-regulatory resources. Across three experimental
studies, we manipulate dissociation from two beloved brands both implicitly (studies 1–2) and explicitly
(study 3) and observe effects on both preference for vegetables (studies 2–3) and actual vegetable
consumption (study 1). In study 1, participants consumed fewer vegetables following dissociation from
(vs. association with) a beloved candy brand. Study 2 demonstrates that the effect of depletion on preference
for vegetables is more pronounced for those who strongly identify with the brand, as these
individuals are most depleted by the dissociation attempt. Finally, study 3 illustrates that the difficulty
experienced when trying to dissociate from beloved brands drives the observed effects on vegetable preference
and consumption for those who strongly (vs. weakly) identify with the brand.