If I indulge first, I will eat less overall: The unexpected interaction effect of indulgence and presentation order on consumption.

Abstract

Across 4 experiments, this research is the first to uncover the interaction effect of food type (indulgent vs. healthy) and food presentation order (first vs. last) on individuals' sequential food choices and their overall caloric intake. This work showed that, when selecting foods in a sequence (e.g., at a buffet or on a food ordering website), individuals are influenced by the first item they see and tend to make their subsequent food choices on the basis of this first item. This notion can be utilized to nudge individuals into consuming less food overall. In contrast to what one might intuitively assume, Experiment 1-a field study in a real-life cafeteria-showed that when an indulgent (healthy) dish is the first item, lower-calorie (higher-calorie) dishes are subsequently chosen and overall caloric consumption is lower (higher). Experiments 2 and 3 replicated these effects in the context of ordering food on a website. Experiment 4 further revealed that high (vs. low) cognitive load alters the identified interaction effect, such that when an indulgent dish is the first item, higher-calorie dishes are subsequently chosen. Public Significance Statement Can we nudge people into consuming fewer calories by changing the order in which they choose an indulgent dish from a buffet or order it from a website? This multiexperiment research advances the idea that indulgence and order of food presentation work together to influence food consumption, showing that choosing an indulgent dish first may lower people's overall caloric intake.