Altruism, reciprocity and health: A social experiment in restaurant choice
► Our experiment showed people reciprocate food gifts and imitate restaurant choice. ► The majority chose unhealthy restaurants when their randomly assigned partner did. ► Similarly, the majority chose healthy restaurants when their partner did. ► The altruistic were significantly more likely to cho...
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Published in | Food policy Vol. 37; no. 2; pp. 143 - 150 |
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Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Kidlington
Elsevier Ltd
01.04.2012
Elsevier Science Ltd |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | ► Our experiment showed people reciprocate food gifts and imitate restaurant choice. ► The majority chose unhealthy restaurants when their randomly assigned partner did. ► Similarly, the majority chose healthy restaurants when their partner did. ► The altruistic were significantly more likely to choose healthy restaurants. ► Policies should capitalize on people’s tendency towards altruism and imitation.
We used an experimental game to determine whether people imitate restaurant choice, reciprocate food gifts, and thus spread health choices. We randomly paired 138 subjects and recorded their decision to give or keep restaurant vouchers and their choice of restaurant. The majority (83.3%) chose an unhealthy restaurant if their randomly assigned partner chose an unhealthy restaurant. Similarly, 77.8% chose a healthy restaurant if their partner did (p=0.005). The altruistic were more likely to choose a healthy restaurant (p=0.017). In sum, restaurant choice is influenced by reciprocity. A cycle of projection, gifting and reciprocation may explain the social dynamics of food choice. We propose policies that capitalize on people’s tendency towards altruism and imitation. |
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Bibliography: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2011.12.002 ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 |
ISSN: | 0306-9192 1873-5657 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.foodpol.2011.12.002 |