Elliot Smith, Richard Stevenson, Leah Dudley and Heather Francis
Greater fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake has been linked to more positive mood. Here, the purpose of this paper is to examine if this relationship is mediated by expectancies…
Abstract
Purpose
Greater fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake has been linked to more positive mood. Here, the purpose of this paper is to examine if this relationship is mediated by expectancies about their benefit to health/mental health.
Design/methodology/approach
Participants completed a new questionnaire to assess expectancies related to F&V intake. This was administered alongside a validated food-frequency measure of F&V intake, an assessment of positive and negative mood state and other measures.
Findings
Participants held strongly positive expectations about the physical and mental health benefits of consuming F&V. The authors observed a significant relationship between self-reported F&V intake and positive mood (d = 0.52). Importantly, this effect was largely (but not completely) independent of expectancies. The authors also observed that expectancies about F&V intake were independently predictive of positive mood (d = 0.47).
Originality/value
This is the first study to explore expectancy effects in the mental health benefits of F&V intake. These data suggest that positive expectancies about F&V intake, and F&V intake itself, are both predictive of positive mood. The former finding is probably a placebo effect, whereby people believe they are consuming sufficient F&V (even if they are not) and so experience mood-related benefits due to their positive expectations. The latter finding is consistent with F&V exerting a biologically beneficial effect on the brain.
Details
Keywords
In a recent article published in The Times and referring in particular to the wines of Australia and South Africa, Mr. D. F. Cranston observes that the United Kingdom offers…
Abstract
In a recent article published in The Times and referring in particular to the wines of Australia and South Africa, Mr. D. F. Cranston observes that the United Kingdom offers abundant opportunities to the Australian wine‐growers if they are prepared to co‐operate and pursue a courageous policy. As regards soil and climate Australia is potentially a more prolific wine‐producing country than France. Britain is the only market the Australian growers can hope to cultivate on a sufficiently large scale, and their main difficulty here is that the British people naturally tend to regard wine as the exclusive property of France, Portugal, and Spain. The Australian growers do not dispel this impression by making use of European “titles of origin” for their labels. The fact is that Australian burgundy is being sold as a substitute for the French wine, and a substitute cannot hope to supersede the article it imitates. The Australian wine may partake of the burgundy characteristics, but it is also essentially Australian, and if it were sold under a distinctive title it would soon find a public of its own, and the growers would have no difficulty in placing their agencies here. Another point worth indicating is that the public here is essentially spirit‐drinking even in its wines. Port carries all before it to‐day; yesterday it was sherry, which now takes second place in the public's favour; and Madeira would also have had its day if only it could be produced in sufficient quantities. It is useless for the Australians to clamour for the “ port label.” The trade here, backed by the Anglo‐Portuguese Treaty, is too strong. But there would be a market in England for a distinctive Australian wine of the class mentioned. The falling franc and the rising cost of the French wines also makes the market more favourably disposed to the Australian growers. The consumption of Australian wines here has shown a substantial improvement on the past three years, though the total quantity sold over the last 12 months only amounted to 52,726 gallons. Imports have been heavier lately. Last year's Australian vintage was a record.
One of the things I find most stimulating about customers is how readily they take things for granted. Overnight, today’s innovation becomes tomorrow’s routine ‐ something to be…
Abstract
One of the things I find most stimulating about customers is how readily they take things for granted. Overnight, today’s innovation becomes tomorrow’s routine ‐ something to be expected. This fact of human behavior is by far the best encouragement I know to pursue a strategy of continuous improvement in service to customers. For example, until recently it was rare for people serving you in a big shop to use your name. Now it is the failure to use your name that is more likely to be noticed. Using the customer’s name when he or she offers a credit or banker’s card has become part of the “given”. The service provider gets no competitive advantage in return for the effort involved.