The McDonald?s Equilibrium. Advertising, empty calories, and the endogenous determination of dietary preferences

Abstract

Abstract

A Theory of Natural Addiction

“…Glutamate is found in many natural foods; it is also the "G" in the flavor enhancer MSG. 17 See review in Smith [107]. 18 This hypothesis is stated most clearly by Baron-Cohen [5].…”

ALL FOODS ARE HABIT‐FORMING – WHAT I WANT TO KNOW IS WHICH WILL KILL ME!

“…It can be argued that today's highly processed mass-marketed foods have been (perhaps unintentionally) designed to induce a biological addiction event. However, the reason industry methods succeed so persistently is that they take advantage of evolved predilections that served important adaptive purposes in the preindustrial world, and probably still do [6,7]. There is every reason to expect that people also become 'addicted'-in both the physiological and behavioral senses of the word-to any delicious food (healthy or not), experienced in the right context.…”

Why (and When) are Preferences Convex? Threshold Effects and Uncertain Quality

“…An obvious first example is the one with which we began this investigation: consumption of a sufficient quantity of limiting micronutrients. As noted in Smith (2004), food marketers appear to have stumbled on a deep truth about human nature: if you want to induce a dramatic upward shift in consumption of your product, broadcast messages proclaiming (at least implicitly) that this food has the power to cure illnesses of unknown origin. These messages, in which a "medical miracle" accompanies ingestion of the target product, are commonly employed in television advertisements for food aimed at children.…”

“…These messages, in which a "medical miracle" accompanies ingestion of the target product, are commonly employed in television advertisements for food aimed at children. In the pre-industrial world such scenarios would have provided critical information about nutritional value (Smith 2002). In other words, providing information (in the form of situational cues embedded in advertising messages) to the consumer suggesting that a critical threshold is larger than might have otherwise been apparent, might effectively "shift demand" for the advertised product by inducing a local nonconvexity.…”

“…For a discussion of the merits of pursuing ever-deeper levels of causation in the social sciences, see Smith (2009). 8 Threshold requirements have long been the accepted norm in nutrition science, as reflected in Stigler's early work on diet as a linear programming problem (Stigler 1945).…”