Bet You Can't Eat Just One: Hot and Cold Selves and 'Self'-Control

Abstract

This paper considers an intrapersonal game between a moderate cold self and a hot self with a higher marginal utility of consumption. Indulging in a tempting good -- eating the first chocolate from a bowl, for example -- induces the hot self and makes further consumption more likely. In equilibrium, sophisticated selves best respond to each other's behaviour by adopting personal rules to avoid inducing the other self: the cold self over-abstains and the hot self over-indulges, explaining cycles of abstinence and binging such as ‘falls off the wagon' that are sometimes observed as well as the strictness of some consumers' personal rules. Multiple equilibria may exist, making expectations about the behaviour of the other self important. A brief lab experiment tests the prediction that indulgence increases the appeal of further consumption, finding that consumers on a diet who eat a piece of chocolate before the experiment consume more during it.