How to NOT lose weight

Hint: beware of the "cognitive bias known as the “level effect”. And do not be seduced by the left-most digit. But you knew this, right?

The following deals with indulgent foods and only if you "are high in health motivation", mind you.

"The present research shows that when consumers view indulgent foods with just-below (vs. round-ending) calorie amounts, they exhibit higher consumption intentions, purchase intent and consumption behavior, yet only if they are high in health motivation. This is due to a tendency for health-motivated consumers to overweigh the leftmost digit in multidigit numbers—a cognitive bias known as the “level effect.”

Intrigued to learn more? Here is the paper.

The Influence of Health Motivation and Calorie-Ending on Preferences for Indulgent Foods

Abstract 

 Food and beverage manufacturers now regularly display “just-below” calorie amounts (e.g., 99, 199, 299) in advertisements, presumably to appeal to health-motivated consumers. “Just-below” values are those that fall one or more digits below a round number, most commonly seen as nine-ending numbers. However, although nine-ending prices are known to stimulate purchase intent, it is unclear whether or when nine-ending calorie labeling shapes food preferences. The present research shows that when consumers view indulgent foods with just-below (vs. round-ending) calorie amounts, they exhibit higher consumption intentions, purchase intent and consumption behavior, yet only if they are high in health motivation. This is due to a tendency for health-motivated consumers to overweigh the leftmost digit in multidigit numbers—a cognitive bias known as the “level effect.” This bias results in the perception that just-below (vs. round) -ending indulgent foods have relatively fewer calories, decreasing anticipated guilt and increasing consumption intentions and behavior. The superiority of just-below calorie presentation under health motivation is attenuated with the addition of reference intake labeling (i.e., % daily calorie intake values), which equalizes the magnitude of nine- and round-ending calorie indulgent foods.