Harder Than You Think: Misconceptions about Logging Food with Photos versus Text
27 Pages Posted: 9 Feb 2022 Last revised: 24 Oct 2022
Date Written: January 14, 2022
Abstract
Consumers lose more weight when they log their food consumption more consistently, yet they face challenges in doing so. We investigate how the modality of food logging—whether people record what they eat by taking photos versus writing text—affects their anticipated and actual logging experience and behavior. We find that consumers are more likely to adopt and anticipate better experiences with photo-based food logging tools over text-based tools. However, in a weeklong field study, these expectations reveal themselves to be inaccurate; once participants start logging, they find taking photos (versus writing text) to be more difficult, log less of what they eat, and are less likely to continue using the logging tool. These findings contribute to existing research on how people track goal progress, as well as persistence with and dis-adoption of products. Moreover, our findings provide insights into what might increase the use of products that encourage healthy eating.
Keywords: food, health, eating, field study, tracking, photos, misprediction, goal persistence
JEL Classification: I12, M31
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation