Can evaluative conditioning decrease soft drink consumption?

Jena A Shaw*, Evan M Forman, Hallie M Espel, Meghan L Butryn, James D Herbert, Michael R Lowe, Chantal Nederkoorn

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

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Abstract

The present study examined the effect of a picture-picture evaluative conditioning (EC) procedure on soft drink (soda) outcomes, including negative implicit attitudes, consumption during a taste test, and real-world consumption reported during the week after the intervention. In the EC condition (n = 43), soda images were paired with disgust images and water images were paired with pleasant images, whereas in the control condition (n = 41), the same images were viewed without pairing. The EC condition showed a larger reduction in real-world soda consumption across the week following the intervention. However, individuals in the EC condition did not consume less soda during a taste test immediately following the intervention. EC only significantly increased negative implicit attitudes towards soda among individuals who already had relatively higher baseline negative attitudes. These findings generally favored the potential for EC to impact soda drinking habits, but suggest that a brief EC intervention may not be strong enough to change attitudes towards a well-known brand unless negative attitudes are already present.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)60-70
Number of pages11
JournalAppetite
Volume105
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2016

Keywords

  • Evaluative conditioning
  • Implicit attitudes
  • Eating behavior
  • Soft drinks
  • Obesity
  • IMPLICIT ASSOCIATION TEST
  • SELF-CONTROL
  • INDIVIDUAL-DIFFERENCES
  • EATING BEHAVIOR
  • ATTITUDE-CHANGE
  • SNACK FOODS
  • EXPLICIT
  • COGNITION
  • DETERMINANTS
  • METAANALYSIS

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