Baking Your Own Cookies: Does Food Self-Production Increase Consumption?

Abstract

Prior research suggests that self-production leads to greater food liking and in turn increases consumption. However, empirical evidence on how self-production of food affects consumption in natural settings remains limited and looks only at situations in which food not immediately consumed is lost. The present research examines how self-production affects food consumption over the course of a day. In a series of four experiments (n=798), participants either self-produced or received cookies, and reported the number of cookies eaten at the end of the day. Contrary to prior empirical investigations, we found no evidence that self-production increases consumption when participants can conserve their production. Overall, self-producers consumed 10% less throughout the day. This finding suggests that for unhealthy foods that can be conserved for several days and shared with others, such as cookies, self-production may help reduce food intake (vs. getting the same food ready-made).