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Convenience Drives Choice in School Lunch Rooms: A Salad Bar Success Story
Author(s) -
Smith Laura E.,
Just David R.,
Wansink Brian
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.24.1_supplement.732.11
Subject(s) - premise , nudge theory , salience (neuroscience) , food choice , psychological intervention , marketing , advertising , cash , psychology , business , social psychology , medicine , finance , philosophy , linguistics , pathology , psychiatry , cognitive psychology
Efforts to improve food choice in high schools and middle schools often focus on either taxing or on eliminating less healthy alternatives ‐‐ both which could drive students away from the school lunch program. Building on the premise that two influences on school lunch decisions are salience and convenience, a field was conducted in a middle school where the objective was made to make the salad bar more salient and convenient to students. Instead of being placed parallel to a lunchroom wall, it was moved 4 feet and rotated 90 degrees perpendicular to the cash registers. Depending on the specific food items, the resulting salad sales increased 300 to 400 percent compared from year‐to‐date figures. Additionally, these sales occurred without a decrease to overall lunchroom sales or per/person expenditures. A variety of additional “healthy‐foods‐made‐more‐convenient” opportunities are suggested as next‐step interventions worth of investigation. Grant Funding Source : none