Researchers from the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience HSE and Aalto University conducted an experiment and found that there is a way to get people to give up sugary foods.
The scientists chose 48 male and female volunteers between the ages of 18 and 44 for their experience. All of the subjects admitted that they buy sugar-containing products.
At the beginning of the study, the respondents were shown 60 images of products, some of which were labeled as containing sugar, while others were not.
They were asked how much they would be willing to pay to purchase the products shown.
In the second part of the study, the group was divided into two parts. One listened to a lecture by a nutritionist about the health hazards of sugar, while the second group listened to a lecture about handwriting at the same time.
In the final test, the volunteers had to again estimate the cost of the products from the list offered earlier.
It turned out that the participants in the group that listened to the lecture of the nutritionist overestimated the sugar-containing foods and wrote that they were willing to pay a much lower price for them than in the first test.
The scientists noted that the study demonstrated that eating unhealthy foods can be influenced by emotions such as fear and sadness. According to the researchers, this will help in developing new marketing strategies affecting the consumption of products. In addition, the results of the experiment showed that the opinion of experts can be used to improve the nutrition of adults.