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  5. Food Choices and Response to Public Policies: New Evidence on the Behavioral Dimension
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Food Choices and Response to Public Policies: New Evidence on the Behavioral Dimension

Paper Session

Friday, Jan. 3, 2025 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM (PST)

Hilton San Francisco Union Square
Hosted By: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association
  • Chair: Beatrice Biondi, University of Bologna

On Nudging and Psychological Reactance

David Just
,
Cornell University
Gnel Gabrielyan
,
California Franchise Tax Board

Abstract

Nudging has been suggested as an effective means of encouraging more nutritious food choices without inducing pushback or reactance. Several have pushed back on nudging in this context, often citing only marginal or noisy effects. We test the notion that nudges avoid psychological reactance using a laboratory experiment. We replicate the results of a well known nudge that is intended to reduce the consumption of snack food. In one condition, we explain the purpose of the nudge to participants and find evidence that understanding the nudge leads to classical reactance.

The Effect of Soda Taxes: Testing for Heterogeneity by Health Conditions

David Frisvold
,
University of Iowa
John Cawley
,
Cornell University
Felipe Lozano-Rojas
,
University of Georgia

Abstract

This study estimates the impact of taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) and tests for heterogeneity in these effects by whether individuals have diet-related chronic health conditions (diabetes or obesity), which affect the externalities and internalities associated with SSB consumption. We combine information on health conditions from the Nielsen Annual Ailments, Health, and Wellness Survey with purchases from the Nielsen Consumer Panel Data and nutrition information from the USDA’s FoodData Central, and examine changes over time in the presence of SSB taxes in various U.S. cities in order to estimate the heterogeneous impacts of these taxes.

Food Purchasing Choices as an Indicator of Stress and Mental Health: Evidence from the Italian COVID-19 Lockdown and Post-lockdown Periods

Mario Mazzocchi
,
University of Bologna
Beatrice Biondi
,
University of Bologna

Abstract

This empirical study explores whether monitoring of food purchasing behaviours may serve as a rapid indicator of the degree of stress, anxiety and mental health in a (sub)-population. Using household-scanner data for Italy and causal inference methods, the study exploits the natural experiment of the 2020 Covid19 lockdowns in Italy to identify changes in consumption patterns for a variety of foods and drinks that are potentially associated with psychological discomfort.

Discussant(s)
K. Aleks Schaefer
,
Oklahoma State University
Melanie Lührmann
,
University of London
Birgitta Rabe
,
University of Essex
Eliana Zeballos
,
United States Department of Agriculture
JEL Classifications
  • A1 - General Economics