School of Psychology, Fairleigh Dickinson University, 1000 River Road, T-WH1-01, Teaneck, NJ, 07666, USA.
School of Psychology, Fairleigh Dickinson University, 1000 River Road, T-WH1-01, Teaneck, NJ, 07666, USA.
Appetite. 2020 Sep 1;152:104697. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2020.104697. Epub 2020 Apr 8.
An "optimal default" refers to a pre-selected default option that promotes an outcome intended to be favorable to the individual and/or society at large. Optimal defaults preserve the decision-maker's ability to opt-out of the default and choose an alternative option. This behavioral economics strategy has been shown to nudge both child and adult consumers toward healthier food selections. Full-service restaurants with children's menus are key settings for implementing this approach. The current field study manipulated children's menus at two theme park restaurants, testing the effects of three different item presentations (i.e., lower-energy-dense default, standard fare default, and free array menus). Each menu was presented to consumers for 1 week at a time, in random order. Full choice was preserved with all menu options appearing across conditions, with non-default items listed as available upon request. The restaurants tracked food orders during each of the three weeks. Results showed that positioning lower-energy-dense foods as default menu choices increased the likelihood of lower-energy-dense menu selections and decreased the likelihood that customers would "opt-out" for standard fare. There were also significant differences in total caloric value of food ordered across conditions, with the optimal default menu condition promoting the lowest potential energy intake. This study further supports the effectiveness of optimal defaults to increase healthy food choices for children.
“最优默认”是指预先选择的默认选项，旨在促进对个人和/或整个社会有利的结果。最优默认选项保留了决策者选择退出默认选项并选择替代选项的能力。这种行为经济学策略已被证明可以促使儿童和成年消费者选择更健康的食物。有儿童餐的全方位服务餐厅是实施这种方法的关键场所。目前的实地研究在两家主题公园餐厅的儿童菜单上进行了操作，测试了三种不同项目展示（即低能量密度默认选项、标准菜单默认选项和免费菜单选项）的效果。每个菜单以随机顺序在一周内呈现给消费者一次。通过所有菜单选项在所有条件下都出现，保留了完全选择，非默认项目可根据要求提供。餐厅在三周中的每一周都记录了食物订单。结果表明，将低能量密度的食物作为默认菜单选择可以增加选择低能量密度菜单的可能性，并降低顾客选择标准菜单的可能性。在不同条件下，所订购食物的总卡路里值也存在显著差异，最优默认菜单条件可促进最低的潜在能量摄入。这项研究进一步支持了最优默认选项在增加儿童健康食物选择方面的有效性。
