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Psychology 110
First and Last Name: _________________________
Instructions: For this assignment, you will download and read a scientific article, and then answer the questions below relating to the theory, methodology, variables and operational definitions in the article. Focus your responses on the information from experiments
1a and 1b only.
The scientific article is in the lab assignments module under course content:
Harris, J. L., Bargh, J. A., & Browneel., K.D. (2009). Priming effects of television food advertising on eating behaviour. Health Psychology, 28(4), 404-413.
Questions:
1. What was the purpose of the study? What was the hypothesis?
2. What was the independent variable?
3. What was the dependent variable? How did the researchers operationally define this variable?
4. Very briefly, what was the procedure?
6. In relation to the hypothesis, what were the results? Was the hypothesis supported?
7. What conclusions did the researchers make? Priming Effects of Television Food Advertising on Eating Behavior
Jennifer L. Harris, John A. Bargh, and Kelly D. Brownell
Yale University
Objective: Health advocates have focused on the prevalence of advertising for calorie-dense low-nutrient
foods as a significant contributor to the obesity epidemic. This research tests the hypothesis that exposure
to food advertising during TV viewing may also contribute to obesity by triggering automatic snacking of
available food. Design: In Experiments 1a and 1b, elementary-school-age children watched a cartoon that
contained either food advertising or advertising for other products and received a snack while watching.
In Experiment 2, adults watched a TV program that included food advertising that promoted snacking
and/or fun product benefits, food advertising that promoted nutrition benefits, or no food advertising. The
adults then tasted and evaluated a range of healthy to unhealthy snack foods in an apparently separate
experiment. Main Outcome Measures: Amount of snack foods consumed during and after advertising
exposure. Results: Children consumed 45% more when exposed to food advertising. Adults consumed
more of both healthy and unhealthy snack foods following exposure to snack food advertising compared
to the other conditions. In both experiments, food advertising increased consumption of products not in
the presented advertisements, and these effects were not related to reported hunger or other conscious
influences. Conclusion: These experiments demonstrate the power of food advertising to prime auto-
matic eating behaviors and thus influence far more than brand preference alone.
Keywords: food advertising, priming, eating behavior, children, obesity
According to the U.S. Surgeon General, Obesity is the fastest
growing cause of disease and death in America (Carmona, 2003
paragraph 5). And the crisis is not unique to the U.S.; according to
the World Health Organization (2003), the obesity epidemic is a
major contributor to the global burden of chronic disease and
disability (p. 1). The trend is especially disturbing among young
people. Over the past 30 years, the percentage of children and
adolescents in the U.S. who are overweight or at risk of becoming
overweight has more than tripled to 37% and 34%, respectively
(Ogden et al., 2006).
This obesity crisis has been fueled by reductions in physical
activity, as well as overconsumption of foods high in fat and sugar
(Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2006). Health authorities believe
that the accumulation of unhealthy messages communicated to
children through food advertising is a leading cause of unhealthy
consumption (Brownell & Horgen, 2004; IOM, 2006). Every day,
children view, on average, 15 TV food advertisements (Federal
Trade Commission, 2007), and an overwhelming 98% of these ads
promote products high in fat, sugar, and/or sodium (Powell, Szc-
zpka, Chaloupka, & Braunschweig, 2007). Moreover, food adver-
tising to children portrays unhealthy eating behaviors with positive
outcomes. Snacking at nonmeal times occurred in 58% of food ads
during childrens programming (Harrison & Marske, 2005). In
addition to good taste, the most common product benefits com-
municated include fun, happiness, and being cool (Folta, Gold-
berg, Economos, Bell, & Meltzer, 2006; Harrison & Marske,
2005).
A number of reviews have examined the research on advertising
to children and conclude that food advertising leads to greater
preferences and purchase of the products advertised (Hastings et
al., 2003; IOM, 2006; Story & French, 2004). In addition, as
assessed through correlational and quasi-experimental studies,
heavier media viewing often predicts more unhealthy diets and
higher body weight among children (see IOM, 2006). A few
studies have also examined effects of food advertising on actual
eating behaviors, usually assessed by food choices following ex-
posure to advertising (see Hastings et al., 2003; IOM, 2006). One
study with high ecological validity exposed children at an over-
night camp to a daily cartoon with candy or fruit advertising,
PSAs, or no ads (Gorn & Goldberg, 1982). Over a 2-week period,
children who saw the candy ads selected fruit and orange juice as
a snack less often than the other children. The literature reviews
also highlight, however, the need for further research
specifically, more studies that establish a direct causal link be-
tween food advertising and unhealthy diets. To begin to address
this need, Halford and colleagues recently demonstrated that
groups of children eat more immediately after viewing a series of
8 10 childrens food commercials than after watching commer-
cials for other products (Halford, Boyland, Hughes, Oliveira, &
Dovey, 2007; Halford et al., 2008; Halford, Gillespie, Brown,
Pontin, & Dovey, 2004). Additionally, these effects occurred at the
category level, (i.e., increased consumption transferred to foods
not included in the presented advertisements). However, the au-
Jennifer L. Harris, John A. Bargh, and Kelly D. Brownell, Department
of Psychology, Yale University.
Acknowledgments: This research was funded in part by Grant R01-
MH60767 from the National Institute for Mental Health to JAB and by the
Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. We thank Geoffrey Cohen,
Becca Levy and Marlene Schwartz for their helpful comments and sug-
gestions.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Jennifer
L. Harris, Department of Psychology, Yale University, P.O. Box 208205,
New Haven, CT 06520. E-mail: [emailprotected]
Health Psychology 2009 American Psychological Association
2009, Vol. 28, No. 4, 404 413 0278-6133/09/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0014399
404
thors did not obtain support for their proposed mechanism: spe-
cifically, that overweight children have greater recognition mem-
ory for food advertisements, which in turn leads to greater
consumption.
The literature reviews also emphasize the need to extend food
advertising research beyond children; to-date, very little is known
about such effects on adolescents and adults. Finally, most re-
search has examined advertising for calorie-dense, low-nutrient
foods. As a result, we know very little about how advertising for
more nutritious food affects eating behaviors. The present research
addresses these gaps in our knowledge and utilizes a new approach
to study food advertising effects using contemporary social
cognitive theories.
Advertising as a Real-World Prime
Social cognitive theories suggest a subtle and potentially far-
reaching effect of food advertising on eating behaviors that may
occur outside of participants intention or awareness (i.e., uncon-
sciously; see Bargh & Morsella, 2008). Priming methods provide
a means to test for these automatic causal effects. In priming
studies, relevant mental representations are activated in a subtle,
unobtrusive manner in one phase of an experiment, and then, the
unconscious, unintended effects of this activation are assessed in a
subsequent phase (see Bargh & Chartrand, 2000). Priming re-
search has already demonstrated that a variety of complex social
and physical behaviorssuch as aggression, loyalty, rudeness, and
walking speed can be activated by relevant external stimuli (i.e.,
the primes) without the persons intent to behave that way or
awareness of the influence (see Dijksterhuis, Chartrand, & Aarts,
2007). The mechanism through which behavior priming operates
appears to be an overlap or strong association between represen-
tations activated by the perception of a given type of behavior, and
those used to enact that type of behavior oneself (Dijksterhuis &
Bargh, 2001)the same mechanism that creates tendencies toward
imitation and mimicry in adults (Bargh, 2005; Chartrand & Bargh,
1999) and which serves as a vital support for vicarious learning in
young children (Tomasello, Carpenter, Call, Behne, & Moll,
2005).
An important real-life source of priming influences is the media,
including TV programs and advertisements. Exposure to aggres-
sive or alcohol-consuming models in media can prime aggressive
behaviors and alcohol consumption in the viewer (see Anderson &
Bushman, 2002; Roehrich & Goldman, 1995). Studies that have
focused specifically on advertising effects have shown that ads can
prime positive expectancies of the effects of alcohol consumption
(Dunn & Yniguez, 1999) and positive attitudes toward smoking
(Pechman & Knight, 2002).
External Cues and Consumption Behaviors
Research among adults confirms that external cues have a
significant influence on food consumption behaviors. Exposure to
the sensory properties of palatable food increased subjective desire
and consumption, even though participants were already fully
sated (Cornell, Rodin, & Weingarten, 1989). Subsequent studies
confirmed and extended this finding, showing that exposure to
sensory-related food cues increases consumption (Federoff,
Polivy, & Herman, 1997; Jansen & van den Hout, 1991; Rogers &
Hill, 1989). Moreover, food advertising typically focuses on the
immediate sensory gratifications of consumption (i.e., the hot,
appetitive features), making resistance to these messages even
more difficult (i.e., the cold, rational process of self-restraint;
Loewenstein, 1996; Metcalfe & Mischel, 1999). In light of these
findings, Lowe and Butryn (2007) proposed that palatable food
stimuli can trigger hedonic hunger, or thoughts, feelings and
urges about food in the absence of energy deficits (p. 432).
Consumption behaviors can also be activated through automatic
processes. External cues, not related to the sensory qualities of
food, (e.g., container size and shape, food variety, and portion size)
affect amount consumed without the consumers knowledge
(Wansink, 2006). The behavior of other people is another impor-
tant external behavioral cue, and people automatically mimic oth-
ers eating behaviors, including food choice and amount of food
consumed, without realizing they are doing so (Johnston, 2002;
Tanner, Ferraro, Chartrand, Bettman, & van Baaren, in press). The
unconscious nature of these influences is further established by
studies in which primes of thirst-related words or smiling faces,
presented subliminally outside of the participants conscious
awareness, increased beverage consumption among thirsty indi-
viduals (Strahan, Spencer, & Zanna, 2002; Winkielman, Berridge,
& Wilbarger, 2005).
Food Advertising
Advertising for food and beverages communicates potentially
powerful food consumption cues, including images of attractive
models eating, snacking at nonmeal times, and positive emotions
linked to food consumption (Folta et al., 2006; Harrison & Marske,
2005). We propose that the messages presented in TV food adver-
tising similarly have the power to act as real-world primes and lead
to corresponding eating behaviors. Given the types of foods and
consumption benefits typically promoted in food advertising, what
is primed is usually snacking on unhealthy foods and beverages
(Harrison & Marske, 2005; Powell et al., 2007).
In the following studies, we experimentally test whether TV
food advertising, embedded as it would naturally occur within a
TV program, will prime, or directly activate, an automatic increase
in snack food consumption. Because these effects are hypothesized
to occur outside of conscious awareness, the intention or ability to
regulate impulsive tendencies should not affect the outcome.
Therefore, we predict that food advertising that conveys snacking
and fun (i.e., those typically shown during childrens program-
ming) will automatically cue eating behavior among adults as well
as children. In addition, in line with the Halford et al. (2004;
Halford et al., 2007; Halford et al., 2008) findings, we predict that
the advertising will affect consumption of any available foods, not
only those that were advertised.
We designed the studies to replicate conditions in which indi-
viduals are typically exposed to food advertising on TV, as well as
to minimize participant awareness that the experiments involved
advertising (vs. TV viewing, in general). All advertisements were
embedded within a TV program during naturally occurring com-
mercial breaks, and the total number of food advertisements was
consistent with the number typically presented during a similar
amount of programming time. Experiments 1a and 1b utilized
common types of childrens food advertisements as stimuli and
measured effects on snack food consumed by children while
405FOOD ADVERTISING AND EATING BEHAVIOR
watching TV. Experiment 2 investigated the effects of both snack-
and nutrition-focused food advertising on adult consumption of a
range of healthy to unhealthy snack foods. To further minimize
awareness of the true purpose of the experiments, the advertise-
ments were not related to the brands or types of foods to be
consumed by participants.
Experiments 1a and 1b
In Experiment 1a, we tested our primary hypothesis that
elementary-school-age children would consume significantly more
snack food while watching a cartoon that included food advertis-
ing. In Experiment 1b, we recruited children from a more ethni-
cally and socioeconomically diverse school district and added a
participant incentive ($20 gift card). Except where noted, recruit-
ing and experimental procedures were identical in Experiments 1a
and 1b.
Method
In both experiments, children were randomly assigned to watch
a cartoon that included either food advertising or other types of
advertising and were given a snack while watching. Children
watched alone to eliminate potential imitation, social facilitation,
or self-presentation effects. Parents also completed a short ques-
tionnaire with information about their child.
Participants. In total, 118 children participated: 55 in Exper-
iment 1a and 63 in Experiment 1b; 56 girls and 62 boys; and 59
children each in the food and nonfood advertising conditions. The
two conditions did not differ significantly on any of the child
characteristics measured, including age, weight status, and ethnic-
ity (all ps .16). We received complete data for 108 participants;
92% of parents returned the questionnaire. Childrens ages ranged
from 7 to 11 years (M 8.8 years). To determine childrens
weight status, we utilized height and weight information provided
by parents and compared childrens body mass index (BMI) to
age- and sex-normed percentiles published by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2007). As recommended
by the CDC, children with BMIs below the 5th percentile were
classified as underweight, those in the 85th to 95th percentiles
were classified as at risk of overweight, and those in the 95th or
higher percentiles were classified as overweight. Under these
criteria, 3% of our participants were underweight (n 3); 62%
were normal weight (n 66); 21% were at risk of overweight (n
23); and 14% were overweight (n 15). There was no significant
difference in childrens weight status between Experiments 1a and
1b, 2 (3, N 107) 4.52, p .21; and the combined rate of
at-risk and overweight children (35%) was comparable to the 37%
incidence for children in the U.S. (Ogden et al., 2006).
We also obtained childrens combined race/ethnicity and prior-
week TV viewing from parents. Participants in Experiment 1a
were primarily white, non-Hispanic (95%), whereas our sample in
Experiment 1b was ethnically diverse: 61% were white, non-
Hispanic (n 39); 20% black, non-Hispanic (n 13); 10%
Hispanic (n 6); 6% Asian (n 4); and 2% other or mixed
ethnicity (n 1). According to their parents report, children in
Experiment 1a watched very little TV (M 1.1 hours per day).
Parents in Experiment 1b reported significantly higher child TV
viewing (M 2.0 hours-per-day), t(107) 4.77, p .01; and that
their children were more likely to have a TV in their bedrooms
(48% vs. 4% for Experiment 1a participants), 2 (1, N 107)
25.95, p .001. In Experiment 1b, we also collected child reports
of their own TV viewing: children indicated that they watched
significantly more TV (M 3.2 hours-per-day) than their parents
reported that they watched, t(56) 4.35, p .001. This level of
child-reported TV viewing is comparable to the 3.2 hours-per-day
reported by 8- to 10-year-olds in a large U.S. study that utilized a
similar methodology (Roberts & Foehr, 2004).
Procedure and materials. Parents with children in participat-
ing schools received a letter inviting them to volunteer with their
children for a study to understand TV influences. In Experiment
1b, we also recruited six children from a summer camp in the same
school district. Parents received a description of the experimental
procedure. Parents who requested more information were informed
that we were measuring how food advertising affects eating be-
haviors, but asked not to share that information with their children
before the study. All parents provided written informed consent,
and all procedures and materials were approved by the universitys
Human Subjects Committee. Participants in Experiment 1a did not
receive compensation, and Experiment 1b participants received a
$20 bookstore gift card.
The children met with the experimenter individually at their
school or camp for approximately 30 min. in an unoccupied
classroom or conference room. For school participants, sessions
were held after school. If the child asked about the purpose of the
study, the experimenter informed her or him that we were inter-
ested in finding out about the kinds of things that children like,
including TV shows and foods.
Following a get-acquainted activity, the children watched a
14-min. episode of Disneys Recess, a cartoon typically viewed
by 7- to 11-year-olds. In this episode, the class goes on a field trip
to a science museum. One-half of the children were randomly
assigned to watch a version that included four 30-s. food commer-
cials inserted during two designated advertising breaks. These
commercials promoted snack and breakfast foods of poor nutri-
tional quality using a fun and happiness message (a high-sugar
cereal, waffle sticks with syrup, fruit roll-ups, and potato chips)
and were chosen to represent the types of food commercials that
are most commonly shown on childrens TV (Powell et al., 2007).
The other half watched the same cartoon with four nonfood com-
mercials (games and entertainment products). All commercials had
aired during actual childrens TV cartoon programming.
Children also received a large bowl of cheddar cheese gold-
fish crackers (150 gr.) and a glass of water and were told that they
could have a snack while watching. (Advertising for goldfish
crackers was not presented during the cartoon.) The experimenter
then left the room, returned after the cartoon was finished, and
asked the children when they had last eaten prior to the experi-
ment. Participants in Experiment 1b also highlighted the programs
they had watched on the previous weekday and Saturday on a TV
programming grid. After the children left, the experimenter
weighed the remaining goldfish and recorded the amount con-
sumed.
Separately, parents completed a short questionnaire that asked for
the number of hours and minutes their child had watched TV on each
of the past 7 days, whether the child has a TV in his or her bedroom,
how often the child ate a snack or meal while watching TV in the past
406 HARRIS, BARGH, AND BROWNELL
7 days, how much their child likes goldfish crackers, and their childs
height, weight, and demographic information.
One debriefing was held for all children following completion
of the sessions at their school or camp to minimize the possibility
that children would share information about the purpose of the
study with future participants. Interested parents also attended, and
all parents received a debriefing in the mail.
Results
Identical procedures were followed during the cartoon-viewing
portions of Experiments 1a and 1b, and the amount of goldfish
crackers consumed did not differ between the two studies ( p
.68; see Table 1). Therefore, to increase the power of the statistical
analyses, we combined results for the two experiments in the
following analysis of eating behaviors.
As predicted, children who saw the cartoon with food advertis-
ing ate considerably more (45%) goldfish crackers while watching
(M 28.5 gr.) than did children who saw nonfood advertising
(M 19.7 gr.), t(116) 3.19, p .01, d .60.
It is important to note that most child characteristics did not
predict or moderate consumption (see Table 1). ANOVAs were
conducted with advertising condition and child categories, includ-
ing weight status; gender; TV in the childs bedroom; and white,
non-Hispanic versus ethnic minority as between-participants fac-
tors. All models showed a main effect of advertising condition, all
F(1, 105) 7.03, p .01. In addition, there were no significant
main effects for any of the child characteristics, all Fs .75, ps
.39, and no significant interactions with advertising, all Fs 1.13,
ps .29.
Additionally, we found similar results when we conducted sep-
arate regression analyses to predict snack consumption using a
standardized version of each continuous variable, a dummy vari-
able for condition, and the interaction term. The amount of gold-
fish crackers consumed was not significantly correlated with
amount of time since the child last ate, childs age, parents
assessment of their childrens appetite, snacking while watching
TV in the past week, parents reports of their childs weekly TV
viewing, or childrens reported TV viewing (collected in Experi-
ment 1b only; all ps .29) or with any of the interaction terms (all
ps .42). Only parents assessment of how much their children
liked goldfish crackers, .20, t(3, 104) 2.13, p .04,
predicted amount consumed. Therefore, regardless of the child
characteristics examined, children consumed more after viewing
the food advertising.
Discussion
These results provide strong support for our hypothesis. Chil-
dren who saw food advertising ate 8.8 g. more during the 14 min.
they watched TV in this experiment. At this rate, snacking while
watching commercial TV with food advertisements for only 30
min. per day would lead to 94 additional kcal. consumed and a
weight gain of almost 10 pounds per year, if not compensated by
reduced consumption of other foods or increased physical activity.
Unexpectedly, of the child characteristics measured, only liking
of goldfish crackers (as reported by parents) predicted amount
consumed. We caution against making definitive conclusions
about differences in eating behaviors between different groups of
children, as some parent and child reports, including childs weight
and TV viewing, may be biased. However, the lack of significant
moderating effects for any of the child characteristics measured
suggests the considerable power of food advertising to consistently
influence consumption across a highly diverse sample of children.
In general, then, the effect of food advertising was consistent with
an automatic link between perception and behavior and in line with
most other recent demonstrations of behavioral priming effects
(Dijksterhuis & Bargh, 2001; Dijksterhuis et al., 2007).
Experiment 2
In Experiment 2, we expand on the above findings to predict that
food advertising will also prime eating behavior among an adult
sample. In addition, we examine whether effects on eating behav-
ior are simply due to exposure to images and thoughts of palatable
foods or whether the product benefits presented in the advertising
differentially affect consumption. Specifically, we hypothesize
that exposure to food advertising that promotes snacking, fun, and
excitement will prime greater consumption of snack foods than
advertising that conveys nutrition benefits. Although we did not
Table 1
Goldfish Cracker Consumption and Advertising Effects by Child Characteristics in Experiments 1a and 1b Combined (Unless Noted)
Amount Consumed (gr.) Amount Consumed (gr.)
Other Ads Food Ads Other Ads Food Ads
Group 1 M (SE) M (SE) Group 2 M (SE) M (SE)
Experiment 1a (n 52) 19.5 (3.0) 30.4 (3.0) Experiment 1b (n 66) 19.9 (2.6) 27.0 (2.6)
Boys (n 58) 19.0 (2.6) 30.5 (3.0) Girls (n 51) 20.6 (3.2) 25.9 (2.9)
TV in bedroom (n 31) 17.8 (4.1) 26.4 (3.7) No TV in bedroom (n 78) 20.3 (2.3) 28.8 (2.5)
Under- or normal weight (n 69) 19.4 (2.7) 27.7 (2.6) At risk or over-weight (n 38) 20.3 (3.4) 28.9 (3,7)
White, non-Hispanic (n 82) 19.6 (2.7) 30.7 (2.6) Ethnic minority (n 26) 17.8 (4.6) 25.9 (4.8)
7-8 years old (n 41) 18.1 (3.7) 30.3 (3.1) 9-11 years old (n 65) 20.1 (2.5) 26.8 (2.9)
TV viewing (parent report): Less than
10 hours per week (n 53)
20.0 (2.8) 30.5 (3.1) TV viewing (parent report):
10 hours per week (n 52)
19.3 (2.9) 26.1 (2.8)
TV viewing (child report): Less than 3
hours per day (n 27) 19.3 (4.5) 28.2 (5.0)
TV viewing (child report): 3 hours
per day (n 30) 20.8 (4.6) 28.3 (4.3)
Collected in Experiment 1b only.
407FOOD ADVERTISING AND EATING BEHAVIOR
specifically test the effects of advertising for different types of
foods, these messages are commonly used to promote calorie-
dense, low-nutrient food products in both adult and childrens food
advertising (Harrison & Marske, 2005), whereas the nutrition
message tends to be used in advertising for somewhat healthier
products. Finally, we examine individual differences in food ad-
vertising effects. Prior research has demonstrated that women who
habitually diet and monitor their weight (i.e., restrained eaters)
may be especially prone to increased eating when exposed to
external food cues (Federoff et al., 1997; Jansen & van den Hout,
1991). As a result, we hypothesize a general effect of snack
advertising on increased eating, but a more pronounced effect on
restrained eaters.
Method
As in the first experiments, we attempted to replicate viewing
conditions in which participants would be naturally exposed to
food advertising. In Experiment 2, however, participants were not
provided with a snack while watching. Instead, they were asked to
participate in an ostensible second experiment to test consumer
products. In this second study, they tasted and rated snack foods
that varied in perceived nutritional value.
Participants. Participants were 98 university students between
18 and 24 years old. Restrained eaters (i.e., those with scores 15
on the Eating Restraint Scale; Herman, Polivy, Pliner, Threlkeld,
& Munic, 1978) included 31 women and 8 men; unrestrained
eaters included 29 women and 24 men. Participants were racially
and ethnically diverse: 61% were of white, European American
descent only (n 55); 7% were black only (n 7); 14% Asian
only (n 13); 7% Hispanic only (n 6); and 9% mixed race or
ethnicity (n 9). Participants received introduction to psychology
course credit or $10.
Materials. A 16-min., abbreviated version of an improvisa-
tional comedy TV program (Whose Line is it Anyway?) was
used as the TV-viewing stimuli. The program included 11 com-
mercials (4 min. total), inserted during two commercial breaks.
Three versions were created; each version included seven of the
same nonfood commercials. In addition, one version included four
commercials for food and beverages with a snacking message that
emphasized fun and excitement (two fast-food products, candy
bar, and cola soft drink); another included four food and beverage
commercials with a nutrition message (granola bar, orange juice,
oatmeal, and an instant breakfast beverage); and the control
included four additional nonfood commercials. These commercials
were inserted into nonprominent positions during the commercial
break (i.e., not the first or last commercial) to reduce the likelihood
that participants would pay more than their usual amount of
attention to the food commercials.
Pretesting with a sample of college students confirmed that the
food advertisements communicated the intended product benefits
(see Table 2). The commercials were also matched on other
persuasion-related characteristics. Pretest participants reported
similar moderate levels of enjoyment for all commercials (M
5.59 out of 10 for the snack ads, 5.53 for the nutrition ads, and 5.05
for the control ads), F(2, 158) 1.20, ns. In addition, past
consumption of the foods in the snack and nutrition ads did not
differ significantly (M 1.78 out of 6 for the snack ads and 2.11
for the nutrition ads), t(102) 1.37, ns; nor did future intent to
purchase the foods (M 4.78 out of 10 for the snack ads; M
5.20 for the nutrition ads), t(102) 1.37, ns. The only significant
difference found was that participants were less familiar with the
nutrition commercials (M 1.13 out of 6) than the snack (M
1.47) or control (M 1.68) commercials, F(2, 158) 6.91, p
.01. Familiarity was low, however, for all commercials tested.
Procedures. All participants were tested between 3:00 and
6:00 p.m. to minimize initial differences in hunger. On average,
participants had last eaten 2.8 hours earlier (SD 2.5). They were
informed that the first study examined effects of TV on mood and
were randomly assigned to watch one of the three versions of the
TV program. To increase the believability of the cover story,
participants were informed that they were in the comedy condi-
tion, and that the experimenter had kept the commercials to make
the viewing experience as realistic as possible. Before and after
watching TV, participants completed a PANAS current mood
assessment (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). To assess hunger
without alerting participants that the study involved food, hunger
and thirst ratings were embedded within the PANAS assessment.
As with the mood measures, participants responded on a scale
from 1 (very slightly/not at all) to 5 (extremely) in response to
How hungry/thirsty do you feel right now, at this present mo-
ment? All participants watched in a small, comfortable room, by
themselves.
In line with the cover story, participants were then asked to
move to another room, with a different experimenter. They were
Table 2
Advertising Pre-Test Results: Assessment of Product Benefits Communicated in
Food Advertisements
Product benefits communicated
Snack ads (n 49) Nutrition ads (n 55) Comparison
Main benefit Any benefit Main benefit Any benefit X2(2, N 104)
Nutritious or healthy 0% 2.0% 40.0% 90.9% 81.95
All natural 0% 2.0% 16.4% 49.1% 29.42
Good for snacking 40.8% 71.4% 1.8% 10.9% 81.95
Exciting or fun 26.5% 71.4% 1.8% 18.2% 41.43
Tastes good 57.1% 81.6% 20.0% 67.3% 15.27
Convenient 6.1% 30.6% 1.8% 23.6% .47
Gives you energy 10.2% 22.4% 20.0% 45.5% 6.07
p .05. p .001.
408 HARRIS, BARGH, AND BROWNELL
seated at a table with five premeasured snack foods, including very
healthy (carrots and celery with dip), calorie-dense, nutrient-poor
items (mini chocolate chip cookies and cheesy snack mix), and
items perceived to be moderately healthy (trail mix and multigrain
tortilla chips). They also received a bottle of water. Until this point,
participants were not aware that the study involved food. As in the
prior experiments, none of the snack foods tested had been adver-
tised during the TV segment. Participants were instructed to take
at least one bite of each and rate it on a variety of dimensions but
also told they could eat as much as they liked. The experimenter
then left the room.
After the participants finished the tasting, they informed the
experimenter, who removed the food items and asked them to
complete questionnaires to assess perceived health
