Simple Shopping Cart Modification Means Healthier Eating

asylum.com:

Researchers from New Mexico State University's College of Business used a strip of duct tape to make a line through the middle of shopping carts in a Las Cruces, N.M., grocery store. They also posted a sign on each cart that recommended that fruits and vegetables be placed on one side of the line. Shoppers who had one of the special carts bought 102 percent more fruits and veggies than those who had regular carts.

Read the whole story: asylum.com

Comments

[Ozark Homesteader]

11:55 PM on 08/15/2010

Cool! and simple. We should all think of our plates as 3/4 fruits, veggies, and grains too.

[JackiChan]

10:52 AM on 08/15/2010

Briliant! The power of suggestion.

[Wendy Johnson]

10:17 AM on 08/15/2010

"Simple Shopping Cart Modification Means Healthier Eating"

Or, to rephrase, researchers find a way to ensure that there's more unidentifiable, greenish sludge than ever, accumulating at the bottoms of American refrigerators.

[CaroleK1970]

08:49 PM on 08/14/2010

is the duct tape considered a fruit or vegetable?

[fromdnorth]

10:55 PM on 08/14/2010

Ask "Red-Green"

[maloneyman]

06:07 AM on 08/14/2010

checkin

[Neujersey]

02:58 PM on 08/13/2010

Perhaps the duct tape would be even more effective if placed over the mouths of the consumers.

[Eli Bishop]

11:45 AM on 08/15/2010

Or around their wallets even.

[LdyJane]

09:34 AM on 08/13/2010

Interesting article. I'm sure if the sign had said "place ice-cream here" the grocery store would have seen an increase in ice-cream sales.

[Chris Lawson]

09:06 AM on 08/13/2010

The shopping cart article was kind of interesting, but thank you for the "Hot Fight Girls" link on that same page.

[gurukalehuru]

07:20 AM on 08/13/2010

I totally hate this idea. You know what else I hate? Recycling.

I'm not AGAINST recycling, mind you. I think there should be state of the art full scale recycling centers in all neighborhoods, I think that every piece of garbage thrown away should be broken down into its basic components and reused, there should be no more landfills, garbage fires or unsightly dumps. I just don't think having everybody divide their own garbage into paper or plastic is the most efficient way to do it.

Likewise, I don't want supermarkets using not terribly subtle little tricks to tell me what I should eat. I know I should eat more vegetables and less meat, but I'm not going to. That line down the middle of the cart is just going to make me feel guilty, and I would immediately switch to a supermarket that knows how to mind their own business and sell me the cheap, fatty hamburger and the big bags of little Mars bars.

[edgraham]

10:40 AM on 08/13/2010

"I know I should eat more vegetables and less meat, but I'm not going to."

you are my hero.

[BLACKCAT66]

01:12 PM on 08/13/2010

Its ok honey...breath...you don't have to listen to the duct tape, the duct tape is not always on your side...there.there..

[CubfanBudman]

06:57 AM on 08/13/2010

I believe it's called the Hawthorn effect. When people know they are being studied, they act differently.

I'm sure there was a very obvious staff, probably holding clip boards, following people around to see if they were putting produce in the produce section of the cart.

[sabelmouse]

06:05 AM on 08/13/2010

is it possible that people are so easily swayed? don't they have any discepline? do they not go into shops with a clear goal, ignoring all the ads and offers?
i find tat hard to believe. ar they all sheeple?

[gurukalehuru]

07:09 AM on 08/13/2010

I find it hard to believe that anyone doesn't know how to spell "that" and "are."

[sabelmouse]

12:10 PM on 08/13/2010

i can spell them but thanks to my arthritis i sometimes don't type hard enough or hit the wrong key. and obviously i did not check before i posted.
you missed discepline where i probably was not thinking.
personally i think correcting people's spelling is rather petty.

[cef911f1]

05:31 AM on 08/13/2010

Wow, another magical use for duct tape.

[newtom]

03:53 PM on 08/13/2010

Right! We've always known if you can't fix it with duct tape, then it can't be fixed. First iPhone4 and now shopping habits. What a miracle material!

[pagansmom]

04:35 AM on 08/13/2010

Of course, it says they bought more fruits and vegetables...no telling if they ate it. ;)

[thecoffeegod]

09:23 AM on 08/13/2010

How have I not fanned you before now? Sing it, sister!

[pagansmom]

09:36 AM on 08/13/2010

Thanks, back 'atcha.

[FarOutFish]

01:48 AM on 08/13/2010

"Part of the secret of a success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside." Mark Twain

[grandma58]

02:42 PM on 08/14/2010

ah a quote from a man who did not know of the evils of food today.

[Hank26]

01:23 AM on 08/13/2010

Duct taping hungry peoples hands to the cart handle bar would help!