Stämpfli Aline E, Stöckli Sabrina, Brunner Thomas A
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.
University of Bern, Institute of Marketing and Management, Department of Consumer Behavior, Engehaldenstrasse 4, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.
Appetite. 2017 Mar 1;110:94-102. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2016.11.037. Epub 2016 Nov 30.
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.
减肥是许多人的目标，但却很难实现。然而，环境中的节食线索有望改善个人的饮食行为。例如，研究发现，接触艺术家阿尔贝托·贾科梅蒂创作的瘦人雕塑会促使人们在自动售货机上选择健康的零食。尚不清楚与健康或体重相关的过程是否会产生这种影响。然而，详细了解环境线索影响的内容相关驱动因素，能为线索的可能用途提供初步指示。因此，开展了两项实验室研究。它们考察了贾科梅蒂雕塑对不健康和健康食物摄入量的影响（研究1）以及对与体重和健康相关的碎片化单词完成情况的影响（研究2）。研究1表明，这些雕塑与体重相关，因为它们减少了食物摄入量，且与食物的健康程度无关。此外，“贾科梅蒂效应”受到节食的调节。以控制体重为目标的节食者在接触瘦雕塑后吃得更少。研究2的结果也指向了相同的方向。节食者在接触雕塑后完成了更多与体重相关的单词。总体而言，这些研究表明，瘦雕塑主要是与体重相关的线索，对节食者尤其有帮助。像贾科梅蒂雕塑这样的环境体重控制线索可以作为对抗我们致胖环境的一股力量，帮助节食者实现他们的体重控制目标。通过这种方式，它们可以将食物决策推向更健康的方向。
