Via the blog Cheep Talk, I came across a good example for the policy analysis unit of my Masters course.
The New York Times reports that although people say that they make healthier choices when calorie-counts are displayed on fast-food menus, based on evidence from their receipts, the opposite is in fact true. At least in some areas, people are, on average, ordering more calories than before the labelling requirements were introduced.
This is a useful counter-factual for the type of ‘libertarian paternalism’ promoted in Sunstein and Thaler’s pop-policy book, Nudge.
For what it’s worth, I think that this example may be skewed by the demographic in the poorer areas in which receipts were collected. Perhaps people are maximising their calories per dollar. This is, in many ways, the natural human instinct.
The recession may also play a role here. I would be interested to know if this receipt-collection exercise had a control – a measurement of whether calorie consumption had gone up in similar cities where these measures had not be introduced. Without that, how can you rule out the possibility that people comfort-eat in a recession?
I agree that people may well seek ‘value’ (i.e. calorie per dollar) by nature and that this effect could be heightened in a recession.
I would also be interested to know if people naturally over-estimate the calorie count in the food they consume. Perhaps people have been ‘nicely surprised’ to learn of the calorie count in their choices under the new regime.
‘Wow…a burger is only 912 calories not 1100 – I can probably super-size on my fries or get a pie!’
Furthermore, if the calorie counts are not directly displayed against any kind of recommended daily intake (it doesn’t look like they are http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2005/2432190538_6b68c37629.jpg) people will not easily make a fully informed assessment of their meal choices. Of course, they should know that an adult male should stick to around 2500 calories a day, but at the point of choice this is easily forgotten or ignored without that prompt.
If this law is to nudge in the right direction, this prompt is vital.
And even then, how to keep track? You might forget the sneaky kit kat you had at tea-time, blowing your daily allowance. Perhaps people will start using smartphones or other personal devices to keep a daily or weekly running total! If there aren’t any apps out there for this, I’m Col. Sanders…