July 2003

Consumer Preference Research Released

Professor Business Administration Brian Wansink released this month two research projects from the Food & Brand Lab that he directs. Both projects -- on consumer preferences on comfort food and on the quantity of food consumed -- received considerable attention in the press and one was featured on a Food Network cable channel show.

According to his research, nearly 40 percent of "comfort-giving foods" do not fall into the traditional categories of snacks or desserts. The Food and Brand Lab documented the comfort food preferences of men and women and found the roots in childhood. More information on this study is available in a News Bureau news release. This research also resulted in an interview with Wansink for the "Top 5" cable show about popular comfort foods such as macaroni and cheese, fried chicken, and soup.

Another research project reveals that diners and dieters tend to look only at a target food and disregard other factors in meal selection. This single focus can hinder a healthy diet. The amount of food eaten is more important than the fat content, according to the News Bureau news release on the study. A recent New York Times article (July 22) referenced Wansink's earlier research on quantity consumption (using popcorn) .

A related finding in this field study was that nearly all of those queried in exit interviews underestimated how much bread they actually ate. "This underestimation tendency is a consistent and well-documented phenomenon in consumption research, often occurring because most adults simply do not monitor their consumption and are unaware of the forces that influence them," Wansink wrote in his forthcoming article being published in the July issue of the International Journal of Obesity.