Policastro Peggy, Palm Taylor, Schwartz Janet, Chapman Gretchen
Department of Nutritional Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.
Freeman School of Business, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
Obesity (Silver Spring). 2017 Aug;25(8):1428-1434. doi: 10.1002/oby.21885. Epub 2017 Jun 24.
Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption is cited as a major contributor to the U.S. obesity epidemic. The objective of this paper was to leverage insights from behavioral economics to examine whether nudges would entice college students to save meal calories by choosing water over SSBs.
Three message-based nudge interventions, with washout periods between, were used during the 7-week study. Calorie savings (self-interest), charity (prosocial), or charity-plus-calorie message posters were displayed in a college-based food franchise. Multilevel logistic regressions compared the proportions of students choosing water during three experimental conditions. This study assessed whether the frequency of dining establishment visits over the study period moderated effects of the experimental conditions on beverage choices. Multiple data points from the same customer were treated as repeated measures.
A total of 2,393 unique students purchased 6,730 meals. Posters displaying calorie information increased water choice relative to washout periods, while the poster without calorie information (charity only) had no effect. Controlling for fixed effects produced the same results. The calorie message poster influenced less frequent diners more than frequent diners.
Food-service operations can nudge college students to substitute water for SSBs with a simple calorie-based message to save hundreds of calories per meal.
含糖饮料（SSB）的消费被认为是美国肥胖流行的主要原因。本文的目的是利用行为经济学的见解，研究助推措施是否会促使大学生选择喝水而非含糖饮料来节省每餐的热量。
在为期7周的研究中，采用了三种基于信息的助推干预措施，中间设有洗脱期。在一家校园食品连锁店展示了热量节省（利己）、慈善（亲社会）或慈善加热量信息的海报。多水平逻辑回归比较了三种实验条件下选择喝水的学生比例。本研究评估了在研究期间光顾餐饮场所的频率是否会调节实验条件对饮料选择的影响。将同一顾客的多个数据点视为重复测量。
共有2393名不同的学生购买了6730份餐食。与洗脱期相比，展示热量信息的海报增加了水的选择，而没有热量信息的海报（仅慈善）则没有效果。控制固定效应产生了相同的结果。热量信息海报对不常光顾的用餐者的影响大于常光顾的用餐者。
食品服务运营可以通过一个简单的基于热量的信息促使大学生用水替代含糖饮料，每餐节省数百卡路里。
