Eating decisions are as much influenced by emotions and environmental factors as by will power, UBC marketing professor Yann Cornil and a colleague wrote in a Washington Post op-ed.
Cornil studied the effect of football wins and losses on what people eat, and found that on the day following a loss, fans consumed 10 percent more calories and 16 percent more saturated fat than normal. However, if reminded that being a fan was just part of their identity, people were more likely to choose healthy foods.
