TITLE:
A disregard for calories during sampling: Exploring the “samples don’t count” effect
AUTHORS:
Chrissy M. Martins, Lauren G. Block, Darren W. Dahl
KEYWORDS:
Sampling; Calorie Estimation; Food Intake
JOURNAL NAME:
Health,
Vol.6 No.3,
February
13,
2014
ABSTRACT: Product sampling is an important part of food
retailing promotion. We explore how food sampling affects individuals’ total
caloric estimates of a consumption episode. In a field study, at a small
self-serve frozen yogurt store, 144 participants were randomly assigned to
either a control or samples’ condition. Analysis of variance showed that
individuals who had no or one sample overestimated the number of calories
they were consuming, while those who had two or more samples underestimated
their caloric intake.