Not all dieters are the same: Development of the Diet Balancing Scale

Xie, Yi (Fionna), Naomi Mandel and Meryl P. Gardner

Journal of Business Research, 2021, vol. 133, issue C, 143-157

Abstract: We propose that dieters hold different lay beliefs about diet approaches, and we categorize dieters into two main types: abstainers, who try to avoid certain types of food entirely, and balancers, who allow “everything in moderation” and strategically indulge during their diets. Building on prior research on implicit self-beliefs, we develop and validate a Diet Balancing Scale (Studies 1 and 2a-b), which assesses lay beliefs about whether balancing or abstinence is a more effective dieting strategy. Study 3 shows that dieters’ actual eating behavior accurately reflects their measured Diet Balancing. Study 4 demonstrates that balancers prefer healthy food advertisements that contain belief-affirming (vs. belief-inconsistent) taglines. The findings suggest that diet-related advertisements and government policies should not be one-size-fits-all, but rather tailored to these individual differences. Overall, the Diet Balancing Scale represents a psychometrically sound tool for the measurement of diet-related self-beliefs.

Keywords: Lay belief; Diet; Indulgence; Scale development; Advertising (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:133:y:2021:i:c:p:143-157

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.04.056

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