Maura L. Scott

The Effects of Reduced Food Size and Package Size on the Consumption Behavior of Restrained and Unrestrained Eaters

This research examines the moderating role of attempted dietary restraint on the amount of food consumed from small food in small packages versus large food in large packages. Four experiments demonstrate that restrained eaters consume more calories from small food in small packages, while unrestrained eaters consume more calories from large food in a large package. For restrained eaters, overconsumption of the small food in small packages results from a lapse in self-control caused by the stress of perceiving conflicting food information: the small food in small packages is perceived as both diet food and high in calories. (c) 2008 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..

From Nutrients to Nurturance: A Conceptual Introduction to Food Well-Being

The authors propose a restructuring of the “food as health” paradigm to “food as well-being.” This requires shifting from an emphasis on restraint and restrictions to a more positive, holistic understanding of the role of food in overall well-being. The authors propose the concept of food well-being (FWB), defined as a positive psychological, physical, emotional, and social relationship with food at both individual and societal levels. The authors define and explain the five primary domains of FWB: food socialization, food literacy, food marketing, food availability, and food policy. The FWB framework employs a richer definition of food and highlights the need for research that bridges other disciplines and paradigms outside and within marketing. Further research should develop and refine the understanding of each domain with the ultimate goal of moving the field toward this embodiment of food as well-being.

Judging the Book by Its Cover? How Consumers Decode Conspicuous Consumption Cues in Buyer–Seller Relationships

Little empirical consumer research has focused on the decoding of conspicuous symbolism, that is, the inferences consumers make about others’ conspicuous consumption. Grounded in theory on social perception and role congruity, four experiments show that consumer inferences about and behavioral intentions toward conspicuous sellers are moderated by communal and exchange relationship norms. Specifically, conspicuous consumption by a seller decreases warmth inferences and, in turn, behavioral intentions toward the seller under the communal norm; conversely, it increases competence inferences and, in turn, behavioral intentions under the exchange norm. A sellers mere wealth triggers similar inferences, suggesting that conspicuous consumption is a surrogate for actual wealth. Priming consumers with persuasion knowledge inhibits the inferential benefits resulting from conspicuousness under the exchange norm. These findings reveal the theoretically meaningful role of the consumption context by showing that consumers’ warmth and competence inferences operate differentially in commercial relationships as a result of salient communal versus exchange norms, with important consequences for consumers’ behavioral intentions.

The effect of goal specificity on consumer goal reengagement.

Consumers often need to decide if they want to reengage a goal, such as a goal of losing weight, a goal of saving money, or a goal of performing well on a video game. This research finds that consumers are more likely to reengage a goal when they have set a high-low range goal (e.g., lose 2–4 pounds this week) than when they have set a single number goal (e.g., lose 3 pounds this week). This effect is driven by the greater attainability and greater challenge of the high-low range goal, which then leads to a greater feeling of accomplishment. Thus, these findings suggest that in order to keep a consumer motivated over time to continue with an activity or continue using a product, that consumer should first set or be given a high-low range goal.

Activating Consumers for Better Service Coproduction Outcomes Through Eustress: The Interplay of Firm-Assigned Workload, Service Literacy, and Organizational Support

Companies are allocating increasing coproduction workloads to consumers. Ironically, many consumers may be ill-equipped to coproduce, as indicated by widespread low service literacy (e.g., financial literacy, medical literacy). This research examines how consumers, particularly those low in service literacy, respond to varying levels of firm-assigned coproduction workload. Five studies, including a hospital field experiment, reveal three findings. First, service literacy plays a moderating role, such that higher (vs. lower) levels of coproduction workload improve service outcomes (e.g., compliance intentions), particularly for consumers with low service literacy. Second, coproduction eustress is a crucial mediator, such that positive service outcomes result from consumers appraising coproduction tasks as positive and meaningful challenges. In turn, eustress is elicited by consumers’ belief that they are collaborating with the provider to achieve a shared goal. Third, offering organizational support to consumers might mitigate the beneficial effects of coproduction eustress because it can trigger reactance. This research can help policy makers and managers in finding new ways to activate consumers, particularly those low in service literacy, as coproducers for better service outcomes.

The Effect of Lifestyle-Based Depletion on Teen Consumer Behavior

Consumer overspending and lack of adequate savings have a significant economic impact and thus are high-profile issues for policy makers. The authors examine the overspending phenomenon from the perspective of resource depletion and role stress theories. They explore factors that influence consumer and financial decision-making quality among the teenaged consumer segment, conducting two studies—a survey and a series of depth interviews—with middle school and high school teenagers. The results suggest that lifestyle-based depletion (1) can affect consumption patterns among teens and (2) is prevalent among ethnic teenagers, girls, and teens with weak parental relationships. The authors provide recommendations to help guide further policy research and aid policy decision makers.

Helping lower income parents reduce the risk of food waste resulting from children's aversion to healthier food options: Comment on Daniel (2016).

We reflect on Daniels (2016) finding that a challenge to improving the diets of lower income children is parental worry over food waste that results from childrens rejection of healthier food options such as vegetables. This finding has important implications because previous research has indicated novel foods that have a bitter or sour flavor profile (as is the case with many vegetables) must be introduced to children several times before these foods are accepted. We suggest research-based techniques that parents could utilize to reduce the risk of costly food waste, and discuss obstacles that could impede well-intended parents from reaching their goals of improving their childrens diets.

How Consumers Assess Free E-Services: The Role of Benefit-Inflation and Cost-Deflation Effects

Despite the ubiquity of free e-services (e.g., free music/video streaming services), little empirical research has examined how consumers assess such service offerings. This research reveals the crucial role of consumer-perceived nonmonetary costs (NMCs; e.g., related to advertising intrusiveness) to better explain the zero-price effect (ZPE). Four experiments show that free e-services elicit positive affect in consumers, which leads to two distinct effects that drive the ZPE: a benefit-inflation effect, such that consumers overemphasize the benefits of free e-services, and a cost-deflation effect, such that they also judge the corresponding NMCs as lower. Furthermore, the authors find that the social norm of reciprocity increases consumers’ acceptance of NMCs. This research provides managerial guidance on how to better market free service offerings. Companies that consider providing basic and premium offerings should include a free basic option, which increases consumers’ benefit perceptions, lowers their perceptions of NMCs, and consequently increases demand for this service option. Finally, the findings help managers model the trade-off between immediate additional revenue generated by the fees consumers pay for a premium option and the revenue stream that a free basic option generates (e.g., through higher advertising revenues).

All That Glitters Is Not Gold: The Penalty Effect of Conspicuous Consumption in Services and How It Changes With Customers and Contexts

A service provider’s conspicuous consumption can undermine customer attitudes and behavioral intentions toward the provider—a so-called penalty effect of conspicuous consumption. Four studies investigate customer and contextual factors that moderate this penalty effect. The results show that customers low in materialism penalize service providers who consume conspicuously (e.g., decreased patronage intentions). In addition, as another facet of the penalty effect, a service provider’s conspicuous consumption undermines customer cost-benefit assessments (decreased perceived value and price fairness), which function as mediating variables. However, service providers can use “service warmth” as a protective strategy to attenuate the penalty effect. Notably, materialistic customers do not react more favorably to service providers who engage in conspicuous consumption (in contrast with their established tendency to favor conspicuous goods). Taken together, the results provide a deeper and theoretically nuanced understanding of when and how customers respond negatively to conspicuous service providers, with meaningful implications for the management of services. For example, when service firms design their aesthetic labor strategy, they should consider their customers’ levels of materialism accordingly. In addition, service firms need to educate their frontline employees about the potential downsides of displaying conspicuous consumption cues.