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The pack size effect: Influence on consumer perceptions of portion sizes

Overview of attention for article published in Appetite, September 2015
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (96th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (89th percentile)

Mentioned by

news
9 news outlets
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4 X users
facebook
1 Facebook page

Readers on

mendeley
118 Mendeley
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Article details
Title
The pack size effect: Influence on consumer perceptions of portion sizes
Published in
Appetite, September 2015
DOI 10.1016/j.appet.2015.09.025
Pubmed ID
Authors
Abstract

Larger portions as well as larger packs can lead to larger prospective consumption estimates, larger servings and increased consumption, described as 'portion-size effects' and 'pack size effects'. Although related, the effects of pack sizes on portion estimates have received less attention. While it is not possible to generalize consumer behaviour across cultures, external cues taken from pack size may affect us all. We thus examined whether pack sizes influence portion size estimates across cultures, leading to a general 'pack size effect'. We compared portion size estimates based on digital presentations of different product pack sizes of solid and liquid products. The study with 13,177 participants across six European countries consisted of three parts. Parts 1 and 2 asked participants to indicate the number of portions present in a combined photographic and text-based description of different pack sizes. The estimated portion size was calculated as the quotient of the content weight or volume of the food presented and the number of stated portions. In Part 3, participants stated the number of food items that make up a portion when presented with packs of food containing either a small or a large number of items. The estimated portion size was calculated as the item weight times the item number. For all three parts and across all countries, we found that participants' portion estimates were based on larger portions for larger packs compared to smaller packs (Part 1 and 2) as well as more items to make up a portion (Part 3); hence, portions were stated to be larger in all cases. Considering that the larger estimated portions are likely to be consumed, there are implications for energy intake and weight status.

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X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 4 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley demographics

Mendeley demographics

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 118 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
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Geographical breakdown

Geographical breakdown
Country Count As %
Unknown 118 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status
Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Bachelor 16 14%
Student > Ph. D. Student 16 14%
Student > Master 14 12%
Student > Doctoral Student 7 6%
Researcher 7 6%
Other 20 17%
Unknown 38 32%
Readers by discipline
Readers by discipline Count As %
Nursing and Health Professions 13 11%
Psychology 13 11%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 12 10%
Medicine and Dentistry 10 8%
Business, Management and Accounting 8 7%
Other 21 18%
Unknown 41 35%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 69. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 15 October 2015.
All research outputs
#689,428
of 27,837,414 outputs
Outputs from Appetite
#451
of 4,999 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#8,958
of 288,787 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Appetite
#8
of 75 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 27,837,414 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 97th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 4,999 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 25.4. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 90% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 288,787 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 96% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 75 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 89% of its contemporaries.