MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATION


Food Craving Increases Unhealthy Food Purchases: A


Study of SNAP Households Journal of Marketing Research, 61, 1, February 2024


MANOJ THOMAS DEMIR SABANCI PROFESSOR


OF MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management


Cornell SC Johnson College of Business Cornell University


LINK TO PAPER LINK TO MANOJ THOMAS VIDEO


Author • Manoj Tomas Demir Sabanci Professor of Marketing and Management,


Samuel Curis Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, Cornell University


• Yu Ma, Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University, Montreal • Dinesh K. Gauri, Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas


Summary Almost one in six people in the United States – about 46 million total – are


enrolled in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) allowing low-income households to purchase food at authorized stores. About 70-80% of eligible households participate in the program. Analysis of grocery story transactions show that SNAP households purchase more unhealthy hedonic food, have larger waists, and endure greater levels of obesity than people not in the program. Even after controlling education and income, no clear cause has emerged to explain why SNAP households buy more unhealthy food than non-SNAP households.


Te authors posit that an important cause could be the lingering psychological effects of food insecurity. Families who have been unable to fulfil their food needs before enrolling in the program may experience strong food cravings, which can trigger brain mechanisms that increase the pleasure from sweet or high-fat food; thus, food deprivation can increase the desirability of food, which can lead to over-consumption. Te authors test their hypotheses about the interplay between food insecurity, food cravings, and unhealthiness perceptions, and they suggest further avenues for exploration of the food needs of the financially underprivileged and vulnerable sections of society.


CONTENTS TO MAIN


| RESEARCH WITH IMPACT: CORNELL SC JOHNSON COLLEGE OF BUSINESS • 2024 EDITION


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