Abstract
Experimental and cross-sectional studies indicate that perceptions of the eating and drinking behavior of one's peers (perceived descriptive peer norms) are associated with the types, frequency and quantity of food, and beverages a person chooses to consume. At present, we know very little about the longitudinal association between perceived descriptive peer norms and future eating or drinking behavior. In this study, we examined whether perceived descriptive peer norms for different food/beverage types predicted frequency of consumption of food/beverages in university students. Three hundred and forty participants completed measures at baseline and follow-up for frequency of consumption of cakes/pastries, sugar containing beverages, and alcoholic beverages, as well as measures of perceived descriptive peer norms at both time points. Perceived descriptive peer norms predicted consumption of pastries/cakes at follow up when controlling for changes in these perceptions over time; believing that one's peers frequently consumed cakes/pastries was associated with an increased frequency of consumption over time, although the magnitude of this effect was small. There was no significant association between perceived descriptive peer norms and changes in frequency of consumption of sugar containing beverages or alcohol over time. In the present longitudinal study of young adults, beliefs about how often one's peers eat or drink specific food and beverages types had limited effect on future eating and drinking behavior.
Highlights
Perceived descriptive peer norms refer to beliefs about how a person’s peers behave
The aim of the present study was to examine whether perceived descriptive norms relating to the frequency by which others consume different food/ beverage types predict the frequency by which these food types are consumed a year later in a cohort of UK university students
To test this we examined whether baseline perceived descriptive norms and/or changes in perceived descriptive norms over time predicted future personal consumption of different food/beverage items
Summary
Perceived descriptive peer norms refer to beliefs about how a person’s peers behave. For example, a person could correctly or incorrectly believe that it is common for their peers to frequently drink sugar sweetened beverages. The influence perceived descriptive peer norms have on behavior has been of interest to social and health psychologists for some time (Cialdini et al, 1990; Terry et al, 1999), recently there has been an increasing awareness of their potential relevance to eating and drinking behavior (Robinson et al, 2013a; Higgs, 2015). A smaller number of intervention studies have examined whether providing consumers with information about descriptive peer norms influences future consumer behavior measured immediately afterwards or up to 1 week later, but results have been mixed (Stok et al, 2012; Mollen et al, 2013; Robinson et al, 2013b, 2014a; de Bruijn et al, 2015; Verkooijen et al, 2015). At present the long term effect that perceived descriptive peer norms have on behavior is unclear (Robinson, 2015)
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