Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Birmingham City University, Curzon Building, 4 Cardigan Street, Birmingham, B4 7BD, United Kingdom.
Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Birmingham City University, Curzon Building, 4 Cardigan Street, Birmingham, B4 7BD, United Kingdom.
Appetite. 2019 Mar 1;134:94-102. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2018.12.005. Epub 2018 Dec 12.
One method of influencing an individual's food consumption involves placing unhealthy snacks further away from individuals, known as the "proximity effect". However, only one laboratory study has explored the effect while both an unhealthy and a healthy option are presented simultaneously. Further, little is known about the potential underpinning mechanisms of the effect. The current study aims to replicate the proximity effect in a competitive environment, and to explore the role of visual salience and effort in the proximity effect.
Fifty-six participants were asked to complete a two-part questionnaire under the cover story of a relaxation study. Two bowls were presented to participants, each containing either 250 g chocolate M&M's or 250 g mixed fruit pieces. Each bowl was positioned either 20 cm or 70 cm from the participant, creating four proximity conditions. Consumption of each snack was compared between proximity conditions.
No main effects were found. A significant interaction between snack type and chocolate position was found (p = .010, ȵ = 0.159), with fruit consumption being significantly higher when chocolate was at located at 20 cm compared to 70 cm (53.35 g vs 22.35 g, p = .042). Higher visual salience of each snack type correlated to more of the snack being consumed, ps < .017. Results were similar when calories consumed were analysed.
We found an unconventional proximity effect where the consumption of a snack did not depend on its position, but rather the relative position of another snack. Implications of the study could inform café and supermarket layouts to exploit the interaction between moving healthy items closer in addition to moving unhealthy items further away, in order to maximise choice of healthy items.
影响个体食物消费的一种方法是将不健康的零食放置得离个体更远，这被称为“接近效应”。然而，只有一项实验室研究同时探讨了不健康和健康选项时的效果。此外，对于该效果潜在的基础机制知之甚少。本研究旨在在竞争环境中复制接近效应，并探讨视觉显著性和努力在接近效应中的作用。
56 名参与者在一项放松研究的幌子下完成了两部分问卷。向参与者呈现了两个碗，每个碗中都装有 250 克巧克力 M&M 豆或 250 克混合水果片。每个碗分别放置在距离参与者 20 厘米或 70 厘米处，形成四个接近条件。比较了每个零食在不同接近条件下的消耗情况。
未发现主要效应。发现零食类型和巧克力位置之间存在显著的交互作用（p=0.010，ȵ=0.159），当巧克力位于 20 厘米处时，水果的消耗量明显高于 70 厘米处（53.35 克比 22.35 克，p=0.042）。每种零食类型的视觉显著性越高，消耗的零食就越多，p 值均小于 0.017。当分析消耗的卡路里时，结果类似。
我们发现了一种非传统的接近效应，即零食的消耗并不取决于其位置，而是取决于另一种零食的相对位置。该研究的结果可以为咖啡馆和超市的布局提供信息，利用将健康食品移近的同时将不健康食品移远的相互作用，以最大程度地选择健康食品。
