Improve Weight Loss Diets by Adding Concrete

High-quality weight loss programs combine ample physical exercise with diet restrictions. Hitotsubashi University researchers find that people seriously intending to lose weight tend to think about the exercise and the diet in different ways. Exercise programs are construed at a relatively abstract level having to do with ultimate effectiveness. “How many pounds will I lose?” The diet is considered at a relatively concrete level having to do with the feasibility of eating and not eating certain foods. To increase the effectiveness of the diet, encourage dieters to select specifics which they consider feasible, though not easy.
     Also help dieters avoid traps which can arise from concrete thinking. Calorie counts constitute one such trap. Researchers at Cleveland State University, University of Kansas, and Arizona State University noticed how many food and beverage marketers state calorie counts in potentially misleading ways. An item will be listed as having 799 calories, for instance.
     Do 99-ending calorie counts tempt dieters in ways similar to how 99-ending prices tempt shoppers? For the health-motivated, yes. A group of health-motivated participants expressed higher purchase intention for a 99-calorie beer than for a 100-calorie beer. There was little difference in purchase intentions among those with low health motivation. People with high health motivation expressed little interest in consuming a sugar donut, whether it was said to be 199-calorie or 200-calorie. But they did say they’d feel less guilty eating the 199-calorie version.
     Food names are another likely trap for concrete-thinking dieters. Researchers at University of South Carolina and Loyola University offered study participants a mix of vegetables, pasta, salami, and cheese, all arranged on a bed of fresh romaine lettuce. Some of the participants identified themselves as dieters, and some said they were not on a weight loss diet. To some of each of these groups, the concoction was described as a salad, and to the rest, it was described as pasta.
     Dieters who heard the name “pasta” rated the offering as less healthy than the dieters who heard the name “salad.” The name made no real difference in ratings of healthfulness to the non-dieters.
     In the marketplace, some fruit chews are in fact candy chews, colored potato chips might be called veggie chips, milkshakes can masquerade as smoothies, and sugar water is called flavored water. These name choices increase consumption intentions among dieters.

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Cement Positives by Spotting Concretes
Expect Exceptions to 99-Ending Pricing
Describe Products to Fit Shopper Objectives
Perpetuate the Health Momentum