(Press-News.org) Contact information: Catharine Skipp
cskipp@law.miami.edu
305-284-9810
University of Miami
The power of packaging in consumer choices
Researchers from the University of Miami and California Institute of Technology show how the brain considers both visual cues and taste preferences when making everyday food choices
CORAL GABLES, FL (January 6, 2014) — When it comes to deciding what food to eat, one might expect that people's choices will be driven by past experience and personal preference, but how does the general appearance of the package impact buying decisions of consumers?
Scientists believe colorful or otherwise noticeable food packages predispose where people look, how long they examine certain options and ultimately, influence which foods they choose, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"When choice options are presented simultaneously, eye movements are considered a good predictor of our economic decisions," says Milica Mormann, senior research scientist at the University of Miami School of Law and co-author of the study. "The big idea here is that perceptual processes happen in the brain in parallel with economic value computations and thus influence how economic decisions are made."
"These findings can be applied to guide the design of choice environments, to 'nudge' people toward making optimal choices, be it selecting a healthy food option to eat or the best retirement plan to invest in," Mormann says. In the study, Mormann and researchers from the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA asked participants to search for and choose a snack food item to eat -- such as M&Ms or Twix -- out of four simultaneously presented snack alternatives. Eye-tracking technology recorded what items people were looking at, in real time.
Images of food items were also analyzed using novel neuro-computational simulation of human attentional processes to determine which items attract attention due to the color, brightness and other visual features of their packaging. The experiment showed that visual fixations are driven by a combination of visual attractiveness and preference information. In fact, the visual attractiveness of product packaging influences where people look in a ratio of 1:3 or 2:3 compared to consumer preferences. In other words, visual attractiveness has a smaller, but significant, influence than food preferences on consumer decisions.
Importantly, these findings allowed the scientists to accurately predict eye-movement patterns and subsequent food choices using only the images of food items and participants' stated liking ratings of these food items. The accuracy of prediction was higher when both visual features and preferences are accounted for than when only the preference information, or asking people what they like, was considered.
Most existing studies on how people make choices do not examine what is visually appealing but, instead, focus on what is economically attractive. A separate body of literature, dedicated to perceptual decision-making, examines what people perceive and pay attention to. The current study bridges these two research approaches to build a more comprehensive understanding of how people make everyday choices.
"Surprisingly, the traditional research approach tends to ignore other, fundamental influences that could impact decision makers at the time of choice, such as how people perceive choice options and how much attention they allocate to different options," Mormann says.
The new study makes an important observation: during the economic choice process the brain merges and reconciles competing types of inputs, including, but not limited to, the perceptual and taste preference information.
INFORMATION:
For more information about this study, contact Milica Mormann at milim@miami.edu.
In addition to UM's Milica Mormann, co-authors include R. Blythe Towal and Christof Koch of the California Institute of Technology. The article abstract is available online at: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/09/06/1304429110.abstract
NOTE TO EDITORS: Please always use full citation of the article when using this image.
The University of Miami's mission is to educate and nurture students, to create knowledge, and to provide service to our community and beyond. Committed to excellence and proud of the diversity of our University family, we strive to develop future leaders of our nation and the world. http://www.miami.edu
The power of packaging in consumer choices
Researchers from the University of Miami and California Institute of Technology show how the brain considers both visual cues and taste preferences when making everyday food choices
2014-01-07
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
By the numbers: A simple 10 step approach to reducing the harms of alcohol
2014-01-07
By the numbers: A simple 10 step approach to reducing the harms of alcohol
London, LA (07 January 2013). Much the same way individuals are encouraged to know their blood pressure and cholesterol numbers to maintain a healthy lifestyle, a new editorial in the Journal ...
Low diversity of bacteria may increase the risk for asthma
2014-01-07
Low diversity of bacteria may increase the risk for asthma
Low gut microbial diversity in the intestines of infants can increase the risk for asthma development. These are the findings of the age 7 follow-up in a multi-year study led by researchers at ...
Stem cells on the road to specialization
2014-01-07
Stem cells on the road to specialization
Scientists at the University of Copenhagen have gained new insight into how both early embryonic cells and embryonic stem cells are directed into becoming specialised cell types, like pancreatic and liver cells. ...
Drugs related to cannabis have pain-relieving potential for osteoarthritis
2014-01-07
Drugs related to cannabis have pain-relieving potential for osteoarthritis
Chemical compounds synthesised in the laboratory, similar to those found in cannabis, could be developed as potential drugs to reduce the pain of osteoarthritis.
These compounds ...
New holographic process uses image-stabilized X-ray camera
2014-01-07
New holographic process uses image-stabilized X-ray camera
This news release is available in German.
The efficiency of the new method is based on a X-ray focussing optics being firmly fixed to the object to ...
First dinosaurs identified from Saudi Arabia
2014-01-07
First dinosaurs identified from Saudi Arabia
Dinosaur fossils are exceptionally rare in the Arabian Peninsula. An international team of scientists from Uppsala University, Museum Victoria, Monash University, and the Saudi Geological Survey have now uncovered the ...
Scientists discover new causes of diabetes
2014-01-07
Scientists discover new causes of diabetes
Research by the University of Exeter Medical School has revealed two new genetic causes of neonatal diabetes. The research provides further insights on how the insulin-producing beta cells are formed in the pancreas
Research ...
New phone alerts for extreme weather may prevent casualties in India
2014-01-07
New phone alerts for extreme weather may prevent casualties in India
When Cyclone Phailin hit India in late 2013 it became the largest storm to batter the subcontinent in over a decade. The storm, officially classified as a Category 5 tropical cyclone, affected more than 12 ...
How common is aggression in UK dogs?
2014-01-07
How common is aggression in UK dogs?
Aggressive dogs represent a serious risk to human health, tragically causing fatalities in rare cases. The development of aggression can also impact on a dog's welfare, because of a breakdown of the human-pet bond, euthanasia ...
Temperature found to be most significant driver of the world's tallest trees
2014-01-07
Temperature found to be most significant driver of the world's tallest trees
Understanding forest biodiversity and how carbon dioxide is stored within trees is an important area of ecological research. The bigger the tree, the more carbon it stores and a study in New Phytologist ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Breathable yet protective: Next-gen medical textiles with micro/nano networks
Frequency-engineered MXene supercapacitors enable efficient pulse charging in TENG–SC hybrid systems
Developed an AI-based classification system for facial pigmented lesions
Achieving 20% efficiency in halogen-free organic solar cells via isomeric additive-mediated sequential processing
New book Terraglossia reclaims language, Country and culture
The most effective diabetes drugs don't reach enough patients yet
Breast cancer risk in younger women may be influenced by hormone therapy
Strategies for staying smoke-free after rehab
Commentary questions the potential benefit of levothyroxine treatment of mild hypothyroidism during pregnancy
Study projects over 14 million preventable deaths by 2030 if USAID defunding continues
New study reveals 33% gap in transplant access for UK’s poorest children
Dysregulated epigenetic memory in early embryos offers new clues to the inheritance of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
IVF and IUI pregnancy rates remain stable across Europe, despite an increasing uptake of single embryo transfer
It takes a village: Chimpanzee babies do better when their moms have social connections
From lab to market: how renewable polymers could transform medicine
Striking increase in obesity observed among youth between 2011 and 2023
No evidence that medications trigger microscopic colitis in older adults
NYUAD researchers find link between brain growth and mental health disorders
Aging-related inflammation is not universal across human populations, new study finds
University of Oregon to create national children’s mental health center with $11 million federal grant
Rare achievement: UTA undergrad publishes research
Fact or fiction? The ADHD info dilemma
Genetic ancestry linked to risk of severe dengue
Genomes reveal the Norwegian lemming as one of the youngest mammal species
Early birds get the burn: Monash study finds early bedtimes associated with more physical activity
Groundbreaking analysis provides day-by-day insight into prehistoric plankton’s capacity for change
Southern Ocean saltier, hotter and losing ice fast as decades-long trend unexpectedly reverses
Human fishing reshaped Caribbean reef food webs, 7000-year old exposed fossilized reefs reveal
Killer whales, kind gestures: Orcas offer food to humans in the wild
Hurricane ecology research reveals critical vulnerabilities of coastal ecosystems
[Press-News.org] The power of packaging in consumer choicesResearchers from the University of Miami and California Institute of Technology show how the brain considers both visual cues and taste preferences when making everyday food choices