Why Healthy Eaters Fall for Fries

What do YOU choose to order when you have great, healthy choices on a menu along side not-so-healthy ones—or downright decadent options? The New York Times reports, in an article called “Why Healthy Eaters Fall for Fries,” that when faced with both “good” and “bad” choices, people are more likely to choose the unhealthy ones!  

The article explains that, in studies, [Gavan J. Fitzsimons, a professor who studies consumer psychology at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business], has presented participants with a range of menu choices — sometimes just unhealthy items, sometimes neutral items (like a fish sandwich) and sometimes healthy choices like salad. It turned out that including a healthy option did change people’s behavior — by making them eat more unhealthily.

“When you put a healthy option up there on an otherwise unhealthy menu, not only do we not pick it, but its presence on the menu leads us to swing over and pick something that’s worse for us than we normally would,” Mr. Gavan J. Fitzsimons (professor who studies consumer psychology at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business) said.

Why? Mr. Fitzsimons called the phenomenon “vicarious goal fulfillment.”