Professor Gavan Fitzsimons found that even health-driven parents often choose unhealthy meals for themselves as a backup for their children.
Research from Professor Gavan Fitzsimons of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business shows that caregivers’ pressure to provide for their dependents’ immediate needs may lead them to choose an alternative option for themselves. For example, an unhealthy meal may serve as a backup plan if the child doesn’t eat their own healthy meal.
In a new paper published in the Journal of Marketing Research, Fitzsimons and Fuqua Ph.D. graduates Kelley Gullo Wight of Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, Peggy J. Liu of the University of Pittsburgh, and Lingrui Zhou of the University of Hong Kong, investigated how consumers make food choices when they are providing for children.
“When we think about consumers’ choice, we often think about choices for themselves,” Fitzsimons said. “But there is a whole other realm of people who are choosing for their children and for loved ones.”
Parents are constantly thinking about feeding their kids, Fitzsimons said, and in recent years, they are also more aware of nutrition concerns.
When parents share a meal with their children, Fitzsimons said, one of the tactics they deploy to balance health and feeding needs is to pick a less healthy meal for themselves.
Nov. 15, 2023