Dieting is hard work. While ingesting the calories to gain weight is simple, the loss of those calories and the mental 'hunger' and the exercise it requires is no small thing.
Given that, it's no surprise dieters who look for healthy food choices are happy to suspend disbelief it it allows them to abdicate responsibility to a menu in a restaurant - and so they are more likely than non-dieters to choose unhealthy foods that are labeled as healthy, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. It seems that dieter focus on food names can work to their disadvantage.
Restaurant salads can include meats, cheeses, breads, pasta and heavy dressing. If potato chips are called 'veggie' chips and milkshakes are called 'smoothies' dieters, who are more attuned to healthy foods, are willing to be confused by those labels.
Participants in one study were presented with a mixture of vegetables, pasta, salami, and cheese, served on a bed of romaine lettuce. The item was either identified as "salad" or "pasta." When it was called pasta, dieters perceived it as less healthy.
In another study, participants were given samples of a product, which was labeled either "fruit chews" or "candy chews." "Dieters perceived the item with an unhealthy name (candy chews) to be less healthful and less tasty than non-dieters," the authors write. As a result, dieters consumed more of the confections when they were called "fruit chews."
"Over time, dieters learn to focus on simply avoiding foods that they recognize as forbidden based on product name," the authors explain. "Thus, dieters likely assume that an item assigned an unhealthy name (for example, pasta) is less healthy than an item assigned a healthy name (for example, salad), and they do not spend time considering other product information that might impact their product evaluations."
Non-dieters do not learn to avoid foods based on names and, given that they are not focused on healthful eating, are more likely to dismiss cues that imply healthfulness, including name.
