How do people cognitively represent appetitive stimuli? Do interactions with appetitive stimuli shape how we think about them, and do such representations affect motivation to consume? Although much is known about how people respond to appetitive stimuli, little is known about how they are represented. We examine this in the domain of sugar-sweetened drinks, which constitute a significant self-control problem for many people. Given people’s rich and diverse learning histories of consuming them, we propose that representations of these stimuli will show high variability, and that they will reflect idiosyncratic simulations, or re-enactments, of previous consumption experiences. Representing drinks in terms of consuming and enjoying them may predict the motivation to consume. In three experiments (total N = 457), participants described non-alcoholic drinks in a “feature listing task”, a free production task to assess cognitive representations of concepts through natural language. We also measured consumption frequency, desire to drink, and intake (Exp. 3), and we measured (Exp. 1 and 2) or manipulated (Exp. 3) thirst. Illustrating the variability of participants’ representations of drinks, participants reported a large number of different features (210-331 unique features per drink). Drinks were described heavily with words related to consumption and reward experiences, especially sugary drinks, and especially when consumed frequently. Consumption and reward features predicted desire and intake, more strongly than thirst. These findings suggest that simulations of previous rewarding interactions play a key role in representations of appetitive stimuli, and that understanding these representations may be useful across domains of appetitive behaviour.
Concepts are grounded in sensorimotor simulations, but what role these simulations play in everyday cognition is unknown. We investigate one domain where the senses are especially important: food. Unhealthy food is typically considered tastier than healthy food, and is therefore more attractive. We explored to what extent sensory associations differ between healthy and unhealthy foods, and whether these differences affect food attractiveness. In Study 1, using existing sensorimotor norms (Lynott, Connell, Brysbaert, Brand, & Carney, 2020) we found that unhealthy food is more strongly associated with taste, smell, and interoception than healthy food. Furthermore, these enhanced sensory associations mediated the relationship between healthiness and attractiveness. In Study 2, when participants were presented only with food words, unhealthy foods were more strongly associated with all perceptual modalities than healthy food. Again, this association mediated the relationship between healthiness and attractiveness: unhealthy food is more attractive because it is more strongly associated with sensory experience. We also found that the role of sensory associations in food attractiveness is affected by context. When participants were instructed to imagine eating the food, mediation by perceptual strength was weaker compared to receiving no instruction. Our results suggest that sensory simulation explains why unhealthy food is more attractive than healthy food, implying sensory simulation has a role in goal-directed behavior.
Consumers’ daily water consumption remains below the recommended level, possibly because of more rewarding alternatives such as sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). Previous research has shown that taste and reward expectations play a key role in food and drink choices, and that thinking about drinks in terms of consuming and enjoying them (i.e., simulations) predicts desire and intake. Here, we examined whether labels using consumption and reward simulation words increased the appeal of water. In three pre-registered experiments with regular consumers of SSBs (N = 1355), we presented water labels with words related to the rewarding consumption experience of water (e.g., “refreshing”, “cool”), with conventional descriptions of water that emphasised its origin and purity, or with brand names only. We assessed participants’ anticipated reward of and desire for water (Exp. 1, 2, 3), simulations of drinking water, and water attractiveness (Exp. 2 and 3). Contrary to our expectations, waters with consumption and reward-focused labels were not rated more favourably than waters with conventional labels, but both were rated higher than brand-only labels. Our findings suggest that the appeal of water cannot easily be increased by emphasising the rewarding consumption experience through language only. Consumers may have a relatively fixed representation of what water tastes and feels like, and future research could test alternative approaches to increase water consumption among SSB consumers.
BackgroundThe prevalence and negative health outcomes of underhydration call for a better understanding of water drinking motivations to inform interventions. Prior research has indicated that constructs like habits and self-identity may be key in understanding adequate water intake.Objective To assess the motivational processes underlying different patterns of water intake (i.e., high and consistent versus low and inconsistent) with a specific focus on the constructs like value, reward, self-identity and early life drinking habits.Design We used mixed methods: an initial quantitative survey (N = 400), followed by a qualitative survey (N = 101) in the general UK population. The quantitative survey assessed self-reported differences in water drinking behaviour (e.g., amount and frequency) in two different types of water drinkers. The qualitative survey assessed underlying reasons for these differences, in a subset of participants. Results Participants who associated water drinking with valued, rewarding outcomes were more likely to drink a high and consistent amount of water, with less subjective effort than participants who did not (i.e., felt obligated to drink water). Reward seemed to motivate repeated performance of water preparation/intake behaviours, making these behaviours subjectively effortless. Participants with health-conscious self-identities were more likely to associate water drinking with reward, but their water intake could be disrupted in situations where other aspects of self-identity were prominent (e.g., professionalism at work). Finally, for many participants drinking habits from early life (partially shaped by parental attitudes and drinking behaviours) persisted into later life and were experienced as hard to change. ConclusionsHealth professional trying to increase patients’ water intake need to understand what outcomes patients value when drinking (e.g., taste or health) and try make water rewarding in line with these values. Early intervention is also essential given the persistence of early life drinking habits.
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