Impact of limited cognitive capacity and feelings of guilt and excuse on the endowment effects for hedonic and utilitarian types of foods

Abstract

Consumer food choices may partly be explained by the endowment effect. Here, we focus on the influence of limited cognitive capacity on loss aversion related to food choices. We also investigate the effects of anticipated feelings on food choices. Experiments with 1614 pupils of secondary schools show that both cognitive constraint and anticipated feelings increases the overall endowment effect and that the impact of limited cognition is stronger for hedonic than for utilitarian food products.