Tempting treats are being offered in small package sizes these days, presumably to help consumers reduce portion sizes. Yet new research in the Journal of Consumer Research found that people actually consume more high-calorie snacks when they are in small packages than large ones. And smaller packages make people more likely to give in to temptation in the first place.
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People are more likely to reuse hotel towels if they know other guests are doing it too.
Dental caries afflict at least 90% of the world's population at some time in their lives. Detecting the first signs of this disease, which can be lethal in extreme cases, just got easier thanks to work by researchers in India discussed in the latest issue of the International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology.
People tend to be more sympathetic to people suffering from the same misfortune as a friend. But friendship with a victim does not make people generally more sympathetic, according to the authors of a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.
Public health campaigns intended to reduce unhealthy behaviors like binge drinking and eating junk food often focus on the risks of those behaviors. But a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research suggests a relatively simple but surprisingly effective strategy to improve consumer health.
Authors Jonah Berger (University of Pennsylvania) and Lindsay Rand (Stanford University) found that linking a risky behavior with an "outgroup" (a group that the targeted audience doesn't want to be confused with) caused participants to reduce unhealthy behaviors.
People are more likely to donate to pledge drive appeals when fundraisers tap into peoples' desire to help others, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. Donors are also more likely to respond to appeals that involve negative emotions than pitches about benefits to the donor.
A new study concludes that nearly 13 percent of America's aged citizens suffer some form of abuse. Specifically, nine percent of adults reported they have suffered from verbal mistreatment, 3.5 percent suffer financial mistreatment, and 0.2 percent suffer physical mistreatment. This data was reported in the latest issue of The Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences (Volume 63B, Number 4).
Healthy people are more willing to take drugs to enhance traits that are not fundamental to their identity.
According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, people's willingness to take a pill or drug depends on whether the trait the drug promises to enhance is one they consider fundamental.
NEW YORK (Aug. 22, 2008) -- In the past 10 years, the global campaign to expand treatment for millions of people with AIDS living in resource-limited countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, has gained substantial commitments in public and private financing, and has made major strides in making treatment available to those who need it. A new collaborative study by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College and the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative explores how to combine engineering science with medical care to guarantee the long-term success of these treatment programs.
Tapping into the desire to have an attractive smile is the best motivator for improving oral hygiene, and new immigrants are the most receptive to oral health messages, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.
Researchers have uncovered a big clue as to why some of the bacteria that cause stomach ulcers pose a greater risk for serious problems like stomach cancer than others; it turns out these bacteria can exploit the surrounding stomach cells to protect them from the immune system.
BOZEMAN -- Montana State University scientist Darla Goeres knows that there is more than one way to grow a biofilm, a fact that she uses to make sure that when a product claims it kills "99 percent" of bacteria, it really does the job.
Biofilms are the extremely common communities of bacteria that form on most wet surfaces. They range from the plaque on teeth to the slime on streamside rocks to the sludge that clogs pipes.
An inexpensive web-enabled device for measuring lung function in patients with asthma and other disorders is being developed by researchers at Texas Instruments, in Bangalore, India, and co-workers. Writing in the International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, the team explains how the devise could allow physicians to monitor their patients remotely and quickly instigate medical attention in an emergency.
According to new research in the Journal of Consumer Research, simply asking people a question about whether they're willing to volunteer their time leads to increases in donations of both time and money.
Engineering researchers from UC San Diego and the University of Arizona have concluded three months of rigorous earthquake simulation tests on a half-scale three-story structure, and will now begin sifting through their results so they can be used in the future designs of buildings across the nation. The engineers produced a series of earthquake jolts as powerful as magnitude 8.0 on a structure resembling a parking garage.