Trigger Foods: The Influence of “Irrelevant” Alternatives in School Lunchrooms

Andrew Hanks, David Just and Brian Wansink

Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, 2012, vol. 41, issue 01, 10

Abstract: Rational choice theory commonly assumes that the presence of unselected choices cannot impact which among the remaining choices is selected—-often referred to as “independence of irrelevant alternatives.” We show that such seemingly irrelevant alternatives influence choice in a school lunch setting. In these lunchrooms, we provide evidence that the presence of specific side dishes-—trigger foods-—can strongly increase the sales of unhealthy à la carte options, even when the trigger foods are not selected. This behavioral anomaly can be exploited to lead children to healthier choices. We also offer a method that can be used to identify such foods.

Keywords: Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Health Economics and Policy; Institutional and Behavioral Economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Trigger Foods: The Influence of “Irrelevant” Alternatives in School Lunchrooms (2012)
Working Paper: Trigger Foods: The Influence of ``Irrelevant'' Alternatives in School Lunchrooms (2012)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:arerjl:123318

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.123318

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