Diet Congruent Primes – Are They Effective? The Effects of Food Priming on Restrained Eaters’ Food Consumption

Abstract

This study examined the impact of healthy and unhealthy primes on the food choice of restrained and unrestrained eaters. Based on a literature review it was hypothesized that restrained eaters would be more susceptible to healthy primes. The reason for this hypothesis was that healthy primes would serve as a reminder of their diet and therefore promote healthy eating. To test the hypothesis, an experiment was carried out involving priming 92 subjects via posters with pictures of either healthy or unhealthy snacks. Participants were then asked about the food they purchased. The formulated hypothesis was confirmed since the results showed that indeed restrained eaters were more affected by the healthy prime than the unrestrained eaters. This result is in line with current studies. Moreover, unrestrained eaters were affected by the unhealthy prime, which was not the case for restrained eaters. Together these findings suggest that people are more responsive to primes that are congruent with their dietary constraints.

Autobiographical memory specificity and restrained eating: examining the influence of priming with images of healthy and unhealthy foods.

“…The aim of the current study was to examine if using healthy and unhealthy food images to prime word cues on an autobiographical memory test would in uence the proportion of speci c memories retrieved on this task. As images of healthy foods were expected to make restraint salient [32,33] and as restraint has been linked to reduced memory speci city [10,26], it was predicted that, after controlling for depression, individuals primed with healthy images would retrieve signi cantly fewer speci c memories than would participants primed with unhealthy images. This prediction was supported by the current ndings.…”

“…This prediction was supported by the current ndings. However, as priming of restraint should have been more evident in those with high restraint scores [32] it was expected that individuals with higher restraint scores in the healthy prime condition would exhibit poorer memory speci city than would those with low restraint scores. This prediction was not supported by the current data.…”

“…Interestingly, priming participants with images of healthy snacks (compared to unhealthy) increased restraint in restrained eaters, but not unrestrained eaters [32]. A review of the priming literature con rmed the effectiveness of low-calorie foods in priming restraint [33].…”

“…As healthy images were expected to make restraint salient [32,33] and as restraint has been linked to reduced memory speci city [10,26], it was predicted that, after controlling for depression, individuals primed with healthy images would retrieve signi cantly fewer speci c memories on the AMT than would participants primed with unhealthy images. However, as priming of restraint should be more evident in those with high restraint scores [32] it was expected that individuals with higher restraint scores in the healthy prime condition would exhibit poorer memory speci city than would those with low restraint scores. In line with previous work [25], it was expected that self-reported dieters would retrieve fewer speci c memories than would non-dieters.…”

Autobiographical memory specificity and restrained eating: examining the influence of priming with images of healthy and unhealthy foods

“…Similarly, in another study, females consumed fewer calories after being primed with words connoting healthy body image (e.g., slim) than neutral primes (e.g., room) [ 31 ]. Interestingly, priming participants with images of healthy snacks (compared to unhealthy) increased restraint in restrained eaters, but not unrestrained eaters [ 32 ]. A review of the priming literature confirmed the effectiveness of low-calorie foods in priming restraint [ 33 ].…”