Many consumers are caregivers and, as part of caregiving, frequently make food choices for their dependents. This research examines how food choices made for children influence the healthiness of parents’ subsequent self-choices. Whereas prior work focuses on choices for the self (others) as based on self-needs (other-needs), the authors theorize when and why self-choices involve consideration of other-needs. Five studies, including a nursery school field study, test the effect of choosing healthy food for a child on the healthiness of parents’ self-choices, focusing on the role of anticipating potentially sharing self-choices with one's child. Potential sharing increased parents’ likelihood of making an unhealthy subsequent self-choice if they first made a healthy choice for their child. This effect was driven by parents’ present-focused parenting concerns about whether one's child would eat and enjoy healthy options chosen for them. This effect was mitigated when parents instead had future-focused parenting concerns. Additionally, this effect was mitigated after making an initial choice for the child that was (1) unhealthy or (2) healthy but relatively liked by the child. This research contributes to understanding how choices for others shape choices for the self and offers important marketing and policy implications.
Academic & Professional Qualification
- PhD in Marketing, Duke University, 2023
- Bachelors in Psychology, Duke University, 2017
Biography
Lingrui (Ling-Ling) Zhou joined the University of Hong Kong in 2023. Her research examines how different types of relationships, between both brands and consumers, affect perceptions and decision making. In her first stream of research, she investigates the impact of brand-to-brand interactions and brand-to-consumer communication on consumers. In her second stream of research, she examines consumer-to-consumer relationships, focusing on interpersonal connections and gift giving.
Research Interest
- Brand communications
- Interpersonal relationships
- Fandoms
Selected Publications
- Wight, Kelley Gullo, Peggy J. Liu, Lingrui Zhou, and Gavan J. Fitzsimons (2024), “Sharing Food Can Backfire: When Healthy Choices for Children Lead Parents to Make Unhealthy Choices for Themselves,” Journal of Marketing Research, 61(3), 451-471.
- Holly Howe, Lingrui Zhou, Rodrigo Dias, Gavan J. Fitzsimons (2023), “Aha vs. Haha: Brand Benefit More from Being Clever than from Being Funny,” Journal of Consumer Psychology, 33(1), 107-14.
- Zhou, Lingrui, Katherine Crain, and Keisha Cutright (2022), “Befriending the Enemy: The Effects of Observing Brand-to-Brand Praise on Consumer Evaluations and Choices,” Journal of Marketing, 86(4), 57-72.
- Brick, Danielle J., Lingrui Zhou, Tanya L. Chartrand, and Gavan J. Fitzsimons (2022), “Better to Decide Together: Shared Consumer Decision Making, Power, and Relationship Satisfaction,” Journal of Consumer Psychology, 32(3), 387-405.
Recent Publications
1Jun
1 Jun 2024
Journal of Marketing Research