Vice and Virtue Food: Perceived Impulsiveness and Healthfulness of 100 Food Items

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Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2160503
Johnson School Research Paper Series #26-2012
Vice and Virtue Food: Perceived Impulsiveness and Healthfulness of 100 Food
Items
Manoj Thomas—Cornell University
Kalpesh Kaushik Desai—SUNY Binghamton
Satheeshkumar Seenivasan—Monash University
This paper can be downloaded without charge at The Social Science Research
Network Electronic Paper Collection.

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2160503Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2078654
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VICE AND VIRTUE FOOD:
PERCEIVED IMPULSIVENESS AND HEALTHFULNESS OF 100 FOOD ITEMS
MANOJ THOMAS
KALPESH KAUSHIK DESAI
SATHEESHKUMAR SEENIVASAN**
*Manoj Thomas is Associate Professor of Marketing at Cornell University, 353 Sage Hall,
Ithaca, NY 14850 (mkt27@cornell.edu). Kalpesh Kaushik Desai is Associate Professor of
Marketing at State University of New York, Binghamton (kdesai@binghamton.edu).
Satheeshkumar Seenivasan is lecturer in the department of Marketing at Monash University
(satheesh.seenivasan@monash.edu). This paper reports supplementary results from the article
published in the Journal of Consumer Research, 38(1), 126-139 by the same authors.

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2160503Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2078654
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ABSTRACT
This paper reports subjective ratings of healthfulness/unhealthiness and impulsiveness of 100
food categories that are purchased by a typical American consumer. These ratings are used to
identify food items that are considered as vice and virtue products.

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In the literature on impulsive consumption it is commonly assumed that some unhealthy
food products trigger impulsive purchase urges because of the desire activated by emotive
imagery and associated sensations. Consumers impulsively buy such products even though they
consider these products to be unhealthy and experience regret after the purchase. Such food
items are often referred to as vices or vice products (Khan and Dhar 2006; Thomas, Desai and
Seenivasan 2011; Kivetz and Keinan 2006; Shiv and Fedorikhin 1999; Wertenbroch 1998). In
contrast, several products commonly perceived as healthful – such as oatmeal or broccoli – are
purchased based on deliberative thinking or prior planning rather than impulsively; such products
are often referred to as virtue products. Although the notion of vice-virtue products is firmly
entrenched in the literature, it is not clear which food categories are typically considered as vice
or virtue by consumers. In this paper, we report results from a survey done to rate several
popular food categories on healthfulness and impulsiveness, and use these ratings to identify vice
and virtue products.
This survey was done for the analyses reported in Thomas, Desai and Seenivasan (2011).
The analyses of shopper basket unhealthiness reported in Thomas, Desai and Seenivasan (2011)
required the ratings of the 100 food categories on the impulsiveness-planned and healthy-
unhealthy scales. These 100 categories were selected on the basis of their sales and accounted for
73% of the food sales bought by 1000 households randomly selected from a database of
customers maintained by a large grocery chain in USA. Thus, these 100 categories represent the
types of food products that a typical American consumer purchases on her grocery shopping
trips. We used the same category labels that the retail store management uses to organize and
display the products on the retail shelves. Since we do not know whether each of these food item
is considered a vice product or a virtue product, we conducted a survey to get participants to rate

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these food items based on their healthfulness and impulsiveness. Note that because
categorization of products as vice or virtue products is a subjective judgment, our interest is in
perceptions of unhealthiness rather than actual unhealthiness of food items as measured by
calorie levels or fat content.
Procedure
Seventy-eight undergraduate students at Cornell University were asked to rate each of
these 100 food categories. To ensure that the results were not biased by a repeated-measure
design, we asked about one-half of the pretest survey participants to rate the categories on
impulsiveness while the other half were asked to rate each category on healthiness. About half of
the participants (n = 37) were asked to rate each category on planned-impulsive purchase
continuum. Specifically, they were informed that “an impulsive product is one that is usually
purchased without prior planning. Even when they do not plan to buy the product, consumers
often buy such products spontaneously when they are in a store. In contrast, planned products are
based on prior deliberation. Consumers come into the store with the intention of buying such
products.” Participants evaluated each of the 100 categories on a 9-point scale anchored at 1 =
Planned and 9 = Impulsive. Participants’ responses were averaged to compute the average
impulsiveness rating for each category. Beans, barley, rice, baby food, vegetables, milk, and
meat were some of the less impulsive categories, and ice cream, candies, cookies, gum, donuts,
potato chips, and pudding were some of the more impulsive product categories in the list of 100
categories. The remaining half evaluated each of the 100 categories on a 9-point scale anchored
at 1 = Healthy and 9 = Unhealthy. Their responses were also averaged to compute the average

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unhealthiness rating for each category. As expected, impulsiveness and unhealthiness ratings
collected from separate groups of respondents were highly correlated (r = .59, p < .01);
categories that were rated as impulsive were also rated as unhealthy.
We computed vice-virtue ratings for the products by multiplying the impulsiveness and
unhealthiness ratings to create an index that reflects the degree to which a product is considered
vice; this index was then standardized and the products were sorted in a decreasing order. A
higher score on this index indicates that the product is considered more impulsive and
unhealthier. Table 1 lists the products and their ratings on the various measures. The shaded
regions identify categories that are either one standard deviation above (vice products) or below
(virtue products) the average score on the vice index.
REFERENCES
Khan, Uzma and Ravi Dhar (2006), “Licensing Effect in Consumer Choice,” Journal of
Marketing Research, 43 (May), 269–66.
Kivetz, Ran and Anat Keinan (2006), “Repenting Hyperopia: An Analysis of Self-Control
Regrets,” Journal of Consumer Research, 33 (September), 273–82.
Shiv, Baba and Alexander Fedorikhin (1999), “Heart and Mind in Conflict: The Interplay of
Affect and Cognition in Consumer Decision Making,” Journal of Consumer Research, 26
(3), 278–92.
Thomas, Manoj, Kalpesh Desai and Satheeshkumar Seenivasan (2011), “How Credit Card
Payments Increase Unhealthy Food Purchases: Visceral Regulation of Vices,” Journal of
Consumer Research, 38 (1) , 126-139.
Wertenbroch, Klaus (1998), “Consumption Self-Control by Rationing Purchase Quantities of
Virtue and Vice,” Marketing Science, 17(4), 1–10.

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TABLE 1: UNHEALTHINESS AND IMPULSIVENESS RATINGS OF 100 FOOD CATEGORIES
Category Name Unhealthiness
Rating Impulsiveness
Rating Vice
Index
CONFECTIONARY, GUM, BARS, MARSHMALLOWS 7.98 8.24 2.52
CANDY, COOKIES, SNACKS, POPCORN 7.90 8.00 2.37
CANDY - GUM, CONFECTIONARY 7.56 8.16 2.28
DONUTS 8.12 7.59 2.27
ICECREAM SANDWICH, POPS, FUDGE, FRUIT BAR,CHOC
BARS 7.85 7.84 2.27
SWEET GOODS, BREAKFAST CAKES, CHEESE CAKE,
DESSERT CAKES, DONUTS, MUFFINS, PIES 7.78 7.51 2.08
SNACKS - POTATIO CHIPS, TORTILLA CHIPS, CORN
CHIPS, CHEESE PUFFS, PRETZELS 7.73 7.46 2.03
COOKIES 7.34 7.35 1.81
REFRIGERATED PUDDING, GELS, CHEESE CAKES 7.51 6.86 1.66
CAKES 7.56 6.65 1.58
ICE CREAM 7.41 6.76 1.57
GELATIN, PUDDING & OTHER DESSERTS 6.68 7.32 1.50
CARBONATED BEVERAGES 7.44 6.51 1.47
FROZEN BURGERS, SANDWICH,PIZZA,ROLLS,
BURRITOS, MOZZA STICKS 7.90 6.11 1.46
CARRY OUT CAFE PRODUCTS 6.12 7.22 1.22
TOASTED PASTRIES 6.66 6.51 1.17
MUFFINS 6.51 6.57 1.13
PIZZA 6.76 6.24 1.10
BOTTLED COFFE, TEA, ENERGY DRINK, CHOCOLATE
DRINK 6.46 6.46 1.07
DINNERS, PIZZA-PIE MIXES, RAMEN NOODLES 7.61 5.46 1.06

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BISCUITS, COOKIES, TORTILLAS,SWEET ROLLS, PIE
CRUSTS 6.98 5.68 0.94
CAKE MIX, BROWNIE MIX, COOKIE MIX, MUFFIN MIX,
FROSTING 7.44 5.08 0.83
FROZEN 6.83 5.16 0.68
HOT DOGS 6.76 5.14 0.64
BEER 7.20 4.73 0.60
FROZEN POTATOES, ONION RINGS & PIEROGIES 6.73 4.76 0.48
BACON 7.37 4.32 0.47
SNACK NUTS 4.46 7.05 0.45
FROZEN BAGELS, PASTRIES, ENTREES, WAFFLES,
PANCAKES 6.76 4.65 0.45
FROZEN SOUP, FROZEN DINNERS 6.37 4.76 0.38
SAUSAGE 7.00 4.11 0.29
INSTANT BREAKFAST POWDER 5.78 4.81 0.23
READY TO SERVE 5.63 4.84 0.19
REFRIGERATED JUICES & DRINKS 5.07 5.27 0.16
SPREADS, DIPS - HORSERADISH, DAIRY DIPS, SEAFOOD,
SPREADS 6.15 4.27 0.13
BREAKFAST BARS, GRANOLA YOGURT BARS, FRUIT
SNACKS / ROLLS 4.54 5.78 0.13
POPCORN - UNPOPPED 5.41 4.84 0.13
SALAD DRESSING, MAYO & TOPPINGS 6.80 3.68 0.06
CRACKERS 5.00 4.97 0.05
COTTON CHEESE, 6.22 3.97 0.04
SUGAR 6.73 3.51 -0.02
BUTTER,MARGARINE & SPREADS 7.61 3.03 -0.06
JUICES, DRINKS 4.59 4.95 -0.08

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JUICES, DRINKS - SHELF STABLE 4.93 4.43 -0.13
JAMS , JELLIES, SPREADS 5.54 3.89 -0.15
PEANUT BUTTER 4.68 4.27 -0.24
CONDIMENTS, GRAVIES, SAUCES 6.05 3.22 -0.28
COFFEE 5.44 3.49 -0.31
DELI SALADS 3.29 5.76 -0.31
READY TO EAT CEREAL 4.37 4.08 -0.38
DINNER ROLLS, SANDWICH ROLLS, SELF SERVE ROLLS 4.88 3.65 -0.38
PORK 5.29 3.32 -0.39
CHEESE 4.54 3.86 -0.39
SOUP 4.02 4.35 -0.39
PICKLES, OLIVES 4.46 3.86 -0.41
SHORTENING, OIL 7.10 2.41 -0.42
ETHNIC - EAST EUROPEAN, MEXICAN, ASIAN, MIDDLE
EASTERN 3.98 4.16 -0.45
DRY MEXICAN PRODUCTS 5.00 3.30 -0.46
SEAFOOD - CANNED 4.98 3.19 -0.49
FRESH PACKAGED SALADS 2.98 5.22 -0.51
BAKING SUPPLIES-BAKING POWDER, BAKING
CHOCOLATE,COCOA,STARCH 6.00 2.51 -0.54
FRUIT CANNED 3.98 3.62 -0.58
BEEF 4.93 2.92 -0.58
SWEET CORN 3.44 4.03 -0.62
PASTA 4.54 3.03 -0.62
DELI MEATS 4.68 2.89 -0.63

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PASTA SAUCE 4.59 2.92 -0.64
LUNCH MEAT 4.85 2.76 -0.64
CANNED VEGETABLES 4.20 3.19 -0.64
FRESH BREAD 3.51 3.70 -0.67
BOTTLED WATER 2.83 4.32 -0.71
CUT FRUIT 2.24 5.32 -0.73
HOT CEREAL 3.12 3.73 -0.75
YOGURT - REFRIGERATED 3.17 3.54 -0.77
FRESH SOFT FRUIT SEASONAL 2.32 4.84 -0.77
MILK & CREAM 4.59 2.24 -0.83
UNPREPARED MEAT, SEAFOOD 4.41 2.32 -0.83
SPICES , SEASONINGS, EXTRACTS 3.93 2.46 -0.87
TEA 2.17 4.43 -0.87
EGGS & EGG SUBSTITUTES 3.85 2.46 -0.88
BREADS 3.29 2.76 -0.90
CHICKEN 3.32 2.73 -0.90
VEGETABLES - FROZEN 3.15 2.73 -0.93
FRESH BERRIES 1.83 4.68 -0.94
FRESH MELONS 1.98 4.22 -0.95
FRESH PEARS 2.00 4.16 -0.95
FRESH CITRUS 2.02 4.00 -0.96
FRESH POTATOES 2.83 2.76 -0.98
FRESH GRAPES 1.98 3.81 -1.00
FRESH BANANAS 1.83 3.81 -1.03

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FRESH PEPPERS 2.17 3.19 -1.03
FRESH APPLES 1.71 4.03 -1.04
FRESH TOMATOES 1.93 3.19 -1.08
FRESH ONIONS 2.46 2.49 -1.08
FRESH MUSHROOMS 2.07 2.86 -1.09
BABY FOOD 2.90 1.97 -1.11
SALAD VEGETABLES 1.95 2.92 -1.11
FRESH CARROTS 1.78 3.14 -1.11
BEANS, BARLEY, RICE 2.88 1.84 -1.13
FRESH COOKING VEGETABLES
2.02
2.16
-1.19
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