Fast Food

Fast food is not only bad for health but it can also trigger impatience and hasty behaviour in people.

Researchers at the University of Toronto have found that the mere exposure to fast food and related symbols can make people impatient, increasing preference for time saving products, and reducing willingness to save.

“The problem is that the goal of saving time gets activated upon exposure to fast food regardless of whether time is a relevant factor in the context,” Bo Zhong added.

In one experiment, the researchers flashed fast food symbols, such as the golden arch of McDonald’s, on a computer screen for a few milliseconds, so quick that participants couldn’t consciously identify what they saw.

They found that this unconscious exposure increased participants’ reading speed in a subsequent task compared to those in a control condition, even when there was no advantage to finishing sooner.

A final experiment found people exposed to fast food logos exhibited greater reluctance for saving choose a smaller immediate payment rather than opting for a much larger delayed payment.