Consumption in Context - Study 1

The study consists of a 2 x 2 ANOVA between-subjects design where both context dependence (context dependent vs. context independent) and social cue (present vs. absent) were manipulated. Because participants were responding online, serving intentions were used as the dependent variable in lieu of actual serving behavior. Intentions were used as a proxy for actual behavior as they are highly correlated when measured specifically (see Trafimow, 2000 for a review). First level of context dependence was temporarily manipulated using the method developed by Kühnen et al. (2001). Using this method, participants were asked to list the ways they are similar (different) to their family and friends to increase (decrease) their context dependence then asked to describe themselves in 10 phrases as a manipulation check. Afterwards, participants were given a scenario where they are hungry and arrive at a party with a snack table. They were then shown a picture of a table featuring a bowl and a sign saying “Please take some pretzels.” In the absent social cue condition the table also featured an exemplar plate with a large (150g) serving of pretzels on the plate. The photos were identical except with the exemplar plate edited out of the “absent” condition. Participants were then asked how many pretzels they would take in this scenario on a sliding scale (1 – 100). Questions pertaining to dietary restraint, BMI and time spent exercising were then asked to ensure no significant covariates exist. Additionally, a manipulation check was done to ensure the social nature of the cue.

本研究采用2×2被试间方差分析（ANOVA）实验设计，对情境依赖性（情境依赖vs.情境独立）与社会线索（存在vs.不存在）两个自变量进行操纵。由于参与者均为线上作答，本研究以取食意愿作为因变量，替代实际的取食行为。之所以将意愿作为实际行为的替代指标，是因为当测量维度明确时二者具有高度相关性（综述详见Trafimow，2000）。情境依赖性的第一水平采用Kühnen等人（2001）开发的范式进行暂时性操纵。具体操作为：要求参与者列举自身与家人和朋友的相似（不同）之处，以提升（降低）其情境依赖性，随后要求参与者用10个短语描述自我，以此作为操纵检验。之后，向参与者呈现如下实验情境：参与者感到饥饿，并抵达设有零食桌的派对现场。随后展示一张桌子的图片，桌上摆放一碗零食及一张写有“请取用一些椒盐卷饼”的提示牌。在社会线索不存在的条件下，桌上额外放置一个示范餐盘，盘中盛有一份150克的椒盐卷饼；两张图片仅在“不存在线索”条件下移除了示范餐盘，其余内容完全一致。随后要求参与者在1-100的滑动量表上作答，表明在此情境中自己将取用的椒盐卷饼数量。之后询问参与者与饮食节制、体重指数（BMI）及运动时长相关的问题，以确保未存在显著的干扰协变量。此外，还开展了一项操纵检验，以确认该线索的社会属性。