Affective Misforecasting and Consumption Behavior: the Influence of Restrained Eating and Emotional Intelligence

In two studies, unrestrained eaters increased food consumption when experiencing better-than-forecasted affect and decreased consumption when experiencing worse-than-forecasted affect, thus aligning their behavior with the direction of affective misforecasting (AMF). Alternatively, restrained eaters (dieters), when experiencing worse-than-forecasted (but not better-than-forecasted) affect ate more. This demonstrates that AMF triggers disinhibition. Moreover, consumers with high levels of emotional intelligence were able to bring their consumption more in line with their emotional experiences. Importantly, restrained eaters with high consumer emotional intelligence were less vulnerable to AMF and did not increase consumption in worse-than-forecasted situations.

Citation:

Tatiana Levit, David Hardesty, Blair Kidwell, and Terry Childers (2011) ,"Affective Misforecasting and Consumption Behavior: the Influence of Restrained Eating and Emotional Intelligence ", in E - European Advances in Consumer Research Volume 9, eds. Alan Bradshaw, Chris Hackley, and Pauline Maclaran, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 464.