Do You See What “Eye” See? Exploring Visual Attention and Rational Choice on Food Purchasing Decisions Among SNAP Participants

Obesity is an important health problem in the United States and worldwide. It is considered a leading cause of preventable death by the World Health Organization (WHO). Excess consumption of energy-density meals that are high in fat and sugar has been identified as the main reason behind the obesity epidemic. Economic research on obesity has focused primarily on the effects of declining food prices and the availability of fast food restaurants on obesity rates. However, conventional economic models which assume that individuals are rational, forward-looking, and time consistent, do a poor job explaining why individuals make poor food choices and/or over eat. In recent years, economists started to use insights from psychology to improve their conventional models and better understand the causes of the obesity epidemic and potential policy responses. We contribute to this literature by analyzing whether low income individuals ignore health and nutrition information when making food purchasing decisions and whether these decisions can be affected by changes in labeling. In this study, we conduct an eye tracking simulated shopping experiment among 100 low income individuals in central Illinois to examine whether they take into consideration nutritional information when making their decisions. We hypothesize that low income individuals who make unhealthy usually ignore nutritional information as assumed by conventional economic theory. We also evaluate whether changes in labeling and signage can lead low income individuals to make healthier food choices.