Default Option Bias in the Food Consumption of College Students in Bangkok
Keywords:
Behavioral Economics, Default Option Bias, Food Consumption, ChoicesAbstract
The objective of this research is to study behavioral bias through setting a default option in food consumption among college students in Bangkok and its suburbs via a population-based survey experiment. The survey encompasses 1,222 observations across 15 educational institutes. Based on the literature, this research categorizes three ways of setting a default option via recommendations, cognitive effort and context. Comparing the treatment groups to the baseline, the findings reveal that setting a default option via the three channels affects consumption choices, which can be implemented as a policy. This ranges from including healthy food items in recommended menus, making a healthy option a default that requires no addition cognition, and creating contextual components that highlight options and induce the consumption of healthy food.
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