Time of day effects on the regulation of food consumption after activation of health goals

Eating less from bigger packs: Preventing the pack size effect with diet primes

“…We also found that time of day moderated the 532 pack size effect, with the effect being stronger in the afternoon than in the morning. Possibly, 533 self-regulation is more difficult later in the day (Hofmann, Vohs, & Baumeister, 2012), and a 534 chocolate snack seems more desirable in the afternoon (see Papies, 2013), which makes it 535 more difficult to resist the temptations of a large pack of M&M's (Boland et al, 2013). Thus, 536 the fact that Experiment 2 was conducted in both morning and afternoon sessions could 537 explain why the overall pack size effect was relatively weak.…”

Health goal priming as a situated intervention tool: how to benefit from nonconscious motivational routes to health behaviour

“…Seeing or consuming healthy foods has been shown to reduce intake of unhealthy foods, mostly among dieters (Buckland, Finlayson, & Hetherington, 2013a, 2013b; Buckland, Finlayson, Edge, & Hetherington, 2014). Similarly, health primes such as dieting advertisements, compared to control or indulgent food advertisements, can prevent overeating on unhealthy foods, again especially among dieters, and especially in the afternoon (Anschutz, Van Strien, & Engels, 2011; Boland, Connell, & Vallen, 2013; Versluis & Papies, 2016). Other weight-related cues, such as the presence of scales or very slim sculptures, have been found to prevent participants from modelling the overeating on unhealthy foods displayed by a confederate, and to reduce unhealthy consumption more generally (Brunner, 2010; Brunner & Siegrist, 2012).…”

Dissociation from beloved unhealthy brands decreases preference for and consumption of vegetables

“…Research on self-regulation has proposed that there are both ability and motivational components to self-regulation (Inzlicht & Schmeichel, 2012) and that goal priming attenuates depletion effects (Walsh, 2014). Indeed, research has found that activation of health goals is an effective way to help people overcome self-regulation failures when these resources are depleted (Boland et al, 2013). Thus, it is reasonable to expect that activating health goals could increase the motivation to self-regulate, even when someone is depleted due to dissociating from a beloved brand.…”

“…These factors include avoiding eating tempting foods (Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven, & Tice, 1998;Vohs & Heatherton, 2000), inhibiting emotional responses Vohs & Heatherton, 2000), making decisions Vohs et al, 2008), and resisting persuasive attempts (Burkley, 2008;Wheeler, Briñol, & Hermann, 2007). Time of day is also related to self-regulatory abilities (Baumeister, 2002;Boland, Connell, & Vallen, 2013), presumably because people are required to inhibit their natural responses frequently throughout the day, thus chipping away at self-regulatory resources as time passes. The resource depletion model of selfcontrol states that people have limitations in their ability to override their natural responses, such that exerting self-control in one instance or task diminishes their ability to do so in a subsequent task (e.g., Muraven & Baumeister, 2000;Vohs et al, 2008;Vohs & Heatherton, 2000).…”