Marketing textbook, chapter 3

How much we eat is influenced by what we see. This is the result of an empirical study in which the test subjects had to eat soup. Some participants had plates in front of them that were secretly refilled.

54 test eaters were served soup for lunch. What the test subjects did not know was that every second participant ate their soup from a plate that was slowly refilled via a tube in the bottom. The result: the test subjects„ hunger was significantly influenced by this manipulation. The test subjects with the refill plates ate 73 per cent more soup than the participants with normal plates. What is even more astonishing is that the involuntary “extra eaters" did not feel any fuller than the others in a subsequent survey, nor did they realise that they had consumed significantly more calories. Regardless of who had eaten which portion - everyone reported roughly the same level of satiety.

„People use their eyes, not their stomachs, to count calories.“ Apparently, the amount of food is estimated before and during a meal based on visual criteria. This estimate then shapes our expectations and reduces the reliability of our self-assessment when eating. As these processes take place unconsciously, there is a risk of overeating. A simple trick can be used to reduce the amount of calories: smaller plates that make even modest meals look big.

Sources:

• Wansink, B./Painter, E./North, J.: Bottomless Bowls: Why Visual Cues of Portion Size May Influence Intake; in: Obesity Research, Vol. 13, No. 1, January 2005, pp. 93-100. Spiegel.de (as of 27 June 2022).