Small Packaging are Gimmicks To Consume More

Dieters beware, two new marketing studies have shown that people tend to consume more calories when junk food portions are smaller as they think small packages are suppose to be diet food.

Manufactures aware of this fact are releasing more products which have smaller packing, whether it be chips, cookies or candies.

These products have been promoted as having merely 100 calories which has proved as a successful sakes tactic.

People may do this because they are either misled, ignorant or can’t simply resist the temptation of a small sin.

The study has its share of contradictions. Many past studies have shown that people psychology is such that they will eat more when given more. For example people given 12 inch sandwiches have shown to eat more than those given smaller sandwiches.

Rita Coelho do Vale of the Technical University of Lisbon conducted a study where participants were asked to watch the sitcom “Friends” under the excuse of evaluating ads. Bag of potato chips of various sizes were slipped into the test.

The study found that people feel small packing helps them regulate hedonic tempting consumption. Smaller packages are more like to fuel temptation because they are considered as innocent pleasures.

The reality is that these sneaky sins actually increase consumption. Large packing on the other hand makes people conscious of over-eating.

Maura L. Scott at the University of Kentucky conducted a study of the eating habits of M&M in regular and miniature packages.

The participants were divided into groups of restrained and unrestrained eaters. Surprising it was seen that the restrained eaters or chronic dieters tend to consume more calories from mini packages than unrestrained eaters.

The research quotes, “While restrained eaters may be attracted to smaller foods in smaller packages initially, presumably because these products are thought to help consumers with their diets, our research shows that restrained eaters actually tend to consume more of these foods than they would of regular foods."