Common connection between comfort food and crisis debunked: Study

Even market analysts, such as Datamonitor and Frost & Sullivan, have predicted that during times of economic recession, consumers will turn to nostalgic comfort foods. But this new research, entitled “The Comfort Food Fallacy: Avoiding Old Favorites in Times of Change”​ carried out five separate studies that suggest the opposite is true: People may think they will choose familiar favorites in times of upheaval, but they are actually more likely to choose the unfamiliar.

Lead author of the research, Dr Stacy Wood of the University of South Carolina's Moore School of Business, wrote: “Why and when consumers choose new options versus familiar options are broad but important questions for marketers and public policy makers. These findings contribute to ongoing research in new product diffusion, innovativeness, variety-seeking, and habitual consumption…They also contribute to an important managerial goal in speaking to how firms can encourage consumers to try new things.”​

The researchers found that there is evidence to support the theory that comfort foods do indeed provide comfort in stressful circumstances, but whether people choose these foods in difficult times is another matter.

Wood argues that if consumers make very considered choices about what they eat, they may well choose familiar foods, but many of the choices we make about food are quick and instinctive. She writes that many in the midst of a changing situation or environment have a ‘change mindset’ and are actually more open to trying new things.

“Consumers may be more likely to choose new options in times of change because such times reduce cues that trigger habitual choices and create a more general change mindset,”​ wrote Wood.

The experiments​

The researchers tested participants’ expectations of whether someone would be likely to choose a familiar American potato chip or an unknown British potato ‘crisp’ in unusual flavors like camembert and plum, based on whether the person was in a stable situation or in the midst of many changes.

They predicted that the stable person would be more likely to choose the unfamiliar ‘crisp’ because “the stable person would have more time and energy to try new things and the person experiencing change would be more interested in choosing a known or ‘sure thing’.”​

In a separate study participants chose between the two potato chip brands and were later asked about the level of upheaval they were experiencing in their own lives. Contrary to popular expectation, it was found that that those experiencing the most upheaval were most likely to choose the unfamiliar.

The researchers concluded that this has implications in terms of how and when marketers target consumers with certain products, as well as implications for consumers, in understanding that times of change may well be when they are most successful in implementing healthy changes – and may be surprisingly good times for giving up bad habits.