Kelly L. Haws’s research while affiliated with Vanderbilt University and other places

Licensing is a well-documented form of justifying individual indulgent choices, but less is known about how licensing affects food decision-making patterns over time. Accordingly, we examine whether consumers incorporate licensing strategically and deliberately in their long-term consumption patterns and identify reward programs as a context in which strategic licensing is likely to occur. We propose that members with lower-calorie consumption patterns strategically indulge more on reward purchase occasions, and that forethought is required for such an effect to occur. A longitudinal study analyzing 272,677 real food purchases made by 7,828 consumers over a 14-month period provides striking evidence of our key proposition. An exploration of the inter-purchase time-related aspect of purchase acceleration suggests that forethought on behalf of consumers is necessary for strategic licensing to occur. A subsequent experimental study (N = 605) comprising five consecutive choice occasions provides additional evidence of forethought by demonstrating that strategic licensing occurs only when expected (but not windfall reward) occasions are involved, and by showing that anticipated negative affect for not indulging is the driving mechanism. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our results for consumers, managers, and public policy makers.

Many firms now link discounts to “special days”—novel holidays/events not historically associated with promotions (e.g., Pi Day). Using a field study and lab studies, we explore consumers’ responses to special day‐themed sales promotions. Specifically, we demonstrate that consumers respond more favorably to a discount celebrating a special day compared to the same discount with no link to the special day. Further, we show that consumers’ increased intentions to use special day‐themed discounts are driven by their perceptions of the marketer’s creativity (both the originality and appropriateness dimensions) through a marketplace metacognition process. Thus, when a given special day‐themed discount becomes commonplace in the marketplace (i.e., originality is low) or when there is low fit between the firm and special day (i.e., appropriateness is low), special day‐themed promotions are no more effective than more traditional types of one day sales. Finally, we develop a typology of special day‐themed sales promotions and offer avenues for future research on how consumers respond to such promotional efforts.

Historically, wisdom has been considered a leading character strength for guiding personal well‐being and the greater good. It has also been routinely considered domain‐specific. Hence, consumer researchers should not just borrow conceptualizations or measures of general wisdom from the social sciences or measures of specific wisdom from non‐consumption contexts. Drawing from recent exploratory research on consumer wisdom by Luchs and Mick (2018), we use survey data to test and refine their multi‐dimensional framework as we develop a Consumer Wisdom Scale (CWS). Across five studies we demonstrate the discriminant, nomological, predictive, and incremental validity of our CWS. We show that it explains unique variance across a variety of indicators of well‐being (e.g., satisfaction with life) in comparison to other measures previously associated with well‐being (e.g., relationship support). Further, we show that our CWS, versus a general wisdom measure, is more associated with select behaviors relevant to personal well‐being and the greater good (e.g., exercise, healthy eating, and financial savings). Closing discussion summarizes our findings and limitations, and suggests future research.

We aimed to identify valid screening questions for adults regarding physical activity and dietary behaviours that (a) were correlated with BMI, (b) were deemed by patients and providers to be relevant to clinical care, and (c) have utility for longitudinal understanding of health behaviours in populations. The goal was to identify screening questions that could be implemented at annual health care visits. First, we identified dietary behaviour questions and solicited patient input. Next, we tested both physical activity and dietary behaviour questions in a large sample to test their potential utility. Finally, we used cognitive interviews with patients and physicians to narrow our assessment for clinical settings. We present a parsimonious and reliable six‐question scale of physical activity and dietary behaviours for research settings, as well as a three‐question scale for clinical settings. We demonstrate a robust relationship between these measures and obesity. Additionally, we present evidence that these measures may serve as a useful red flag for patients before they develop obesity. We provide a concise and useful tool for assessing patients' physical activity and dietary behaviours in a variety of research settings. We also highlight the importance of incorporating this tool into the clinical intake flow for inclusion in patients' Electronic Health Record.

Customization of food products has increased substantially in recent years while the desire for healthiness and an emphasis on understanding and providing calorie information continues to dynamically change the landscape of restaurant retail. The authors report four studies demonstrating that different customization routes (i.e., rejecting alternatives from a full product offering versus adding alternatives to a basic product offering) lead to systematic, but predictable, differences in consumers’ estimations of calories. In particular, this research finds that a rejection (vs. selection) customization process leads consumers to persistently estimate lower calories in the final product, which then improves evaluations of the retailer and leads to unhealthier food choices. These findings occur when consumers estimate calories of the exact same final product using the different paths to customization as well as when they create their own customized final product, while accounting for differences in the quantity and type of ingredients selected, suggesting a very general difference in estimations. This research has important implications for consumers who want to manage their weight and for firms that need to manage consumers’ health perceptions.

Luchs and Mick (2018) developed an empirically derived five-facet theoretical framework of consumer wisdom which we use as a starting point for the development of a measurement scale. Our first step was to generate a set of 120 potential scale items that were then administered to an online sample of 286 Prolific Academic participants. An exploratory factor analysis suggested a six-factor model. We retained 24 items based on factor loadings and conceptual breadth. We named these factors as: Lifestyle responsibility, Purpose, Flexibility, Perspective, Prudent reasoning, and Transcendence. Next, we tested a hierarchical model in which a single higher-order consumer wisdom factor predicts the six lower-order factors. The results of confirmatory factor analysis reached acceptable levels of model fit per Netemeyer et al. (2003).

Background: To develop and test brief nutrition and physical activity screening questions for children ages 2-11 years that could be used as a pragmatic screening tool to tailor counseling, track behavior change, and improve population health. Methods: A literature review identified existing validated questions for nutrition and physical activity behaviors in children ages 2-11 years. Response variation and concurrent validity was then assessed using a mechanical Turk (MTurk) crowdsourcing survey employed in 2018. Additionally, cognitive interviews were conducted with both providers and parents of 2- to 11-year-old children to assess screening question priorities and perceived added value. Results: The literature review identified 260 questions, and 20 items were selected with expert guidance based on prespecified criteria (simplicity and potential utility for both clinical interactions during a well-child exam and population health). MTurk surveys yielded 1147 records that met eligibility criteria and revealed 6 items that had adequate response variation and were significantly correlated with parent-reported child BMI or BMI percentile, exhibiting concurrent validity. Cognitive interviews with 10 providers and 20 parents uncovered themes regarding suggestions and usability of the questions, eliminating 3 items due to parent and provider concerns. Combining quantitative and qualitative results, 3 nutrition and physical activity screening items remained for inclusion into the electronic health record (EHR). Conclusions: The three-pronged validation methodology produced a brief, 3-item child nutrition and physical activity screener to incorporate in the EHR, where it can inform tailored counseling for well-child care and be used to test associations with population health outcomes.

Prior research establishes that consumers are averse to extreme options, but what does a “moderate” option look like in the context of choices among bundles of items, such as investment portfolios or product assortment packs? We propose that for bundles, two paths to creating risk and reward balance exist: a “bundle-of-pure-moderation” with all moderate-risk-moderate-reward (moderate RR) components and a “bundle-of-extremes,” composed of equal numbers of extreme high-risk-high-reward (high RR) and low-risk-low-reward (low RR) components. We show that consumers have stronger preference for the balanced bundle when composed of a bundle-of-extremes rather than a bundle-of-pure-moderation, even when equated on expected value, a phenomenon we term “the aggregated extremes effect.” This effect occurs across different choice set configurations and across multiple domains. Additionally, this effect is eliminated among consumers who view the high RR and low RR components as incompatible, as this undermines the perceived attractiveness of the bundle-of-extremes. Finally, this effect is also eliminated by exposing consumers to a depiction of potential outcomes, such that consumers can better perceive the risk reduction upside of a bundle-of-pure-moderation.

Overconsumption of sugary drinks is linked with obesity. These beverages have been the target of recent public health policies, and, simultaneously, some firms have altered their pricing of such beverages, including charging the same price for all beverage sizes (“any-size-same-price” pricing). We compare the effect of any-size-same-price pricing versus standard pricing on soft drink beverage size choices and further, explore the effect of this firm lever under different health-related policy situations. Overall, we show that any-size-same-price pricing increases consumers’ focus on the value of getting a good financial deal and thereby increases beverage size selections. Further, the allure of any-size-same-price pricing prevents calorie postings from successfully reducing choice of larger sizes as occurs under standard pricing. However, a more graphic health intervention can reduce the appeal of larger sizes under any-size-same-price pricing. Finally, the findings are not moderated by diet versus non-diet beverage selections, indicating that consumers do not perceive the value of larger sizes under any-size-same-price pricing to come from getting more calories. We conclude by discussing how this work can improve the design of public health nutrition policies.