A social norms approach to encourage healthier eating

Higgs, Suzanne and Thomas, Jason and Collins, Emily and Aveyard, Paul and Jebb, Susan and Robinson, Eric and Herman, C. Peter (2017). A social norms approach to encourage healthier eating. [Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive. 10.5255/UKDA-SN-852882

Making healthful food choices is not easy in an environment in which high calorie foods are easily available and highly visible. Psychological research has demonstrated that how people behave is influenced by perceptions of how other people behave in similar situations and by the opinions of others about what is appropriate behaviour in a given context.

In relation to eating behaviour, people look to others as a guide for how much to eat and the presence of other people in eating situations can guide food selection. This suggests that one way of encouraging healthier eating is to provide information about the healthy eating habits of others. This approach has been used successfully to reduce unhealthy consumption of alcoholic drinks but has yet to be applied to eating behaviour. To address this, a series of experiments will be conducted in which participants will be exposed to posters and flyers that provide information about the healthy eating behaviour of others. Effects on actual food selection in a simulated cafe environment will then be assessed. It is predicted that healthier food selection will be promoted.

The results will provide evidence to help develop a new intervention to promote healthier eating.

Data description (abstract)

This archive contains the data files for a series of experiments that were conducted to advance understanding of how social norms may be used to promote healthier eating. Study 1 was a lab based study that examined the effect of providing social norm information about other students eating habits on intake at a buffet. The findings have been published in Thomas, J. M., Liu, J., Robinson, E. L., Aveyard, P., Herman, C. P., & Higgs, S. (2016). Study 2 was a lab based study that examined the effect of exposure to social norm messages on food liking. The results of this study are currently being prepared for publication. Studies 3-5 were observational studies of food purchasing in field (restaurant) settings. Using pre-test post-test designs we examined the effect of placing posters and flyers conveying normative information about the eating habits of other diners in restaurants on purchase of vegetables. The results of Study 3 have been accepted for publication: Thomas, J., Ursell, A., Robinson, E., Aveyard, P., Jebb, S., Herman, C. P., & Higgs, S. (2017). The results from Studies 4 and 5 are presented in a paper that is currently under review. Studies 6-8 were online survey studies. Studies 6 and 7 investigated the effects of providing information on social eating norms on eating intentions and the potential moderating effect of strength of identity with the norm referent group. Study 8 was a longitudinal survey study that examined the relationship between changes in perceived social norms and self-reported food intake among university students. The results of these studies are currently being prepared for publication.

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