scholarly journals Facing it: assessing the immediate emotional impacts of calorie labelling using automatic facial coding

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Kate Laffan ◽  
Cass Sunstein ◽  
Paul Dolan
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expression ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Consumer Welfare ◽  
Emotional Impact ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Welfare Impact ◽  
Health Consciousness ◽  
Short Run ◽  
Policy Work ◽  
The Moment

Abstract Although there has been a proliferation of research and policy work into how nudges shape people's behaviour, most studies stop far short of consumer welfare analysis. In the current work, we critically reflect on recent efforts to provide insights into the consumer welfare impact of nudges using willingness to pay and subjective well-being reports and explore an unobtrusive approach that can speak to the immediate emotional impacts of a nudge: automatic facial expression coding. In an exploratory lab study, we use facial expression coding to assess the short-run emotional impact of being presented with calorie information about a popcorn snack in the context of a stylised ‘Cinema experience’. The results of the study indicate that calorie information has heterogeneous impacts on people's likelihood of choosing the snack and on the emotions they experience during the moment of choice which varies based on their level of health-consciousness. The information does not, however, affect the emotions people go on to experience while viewing movie clips, suggesting that the emotional effects of the information are short-lived. We conclude by emphasising the potential of automatic facial expression coding to provide new insights into the immediate emotional impacts of nudges and calling for further research into this promising technique.

scholarly journals The (Subjective) Well-Being Cost of Fiscal Policy Shocks

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kodjovi Eklou ◽  
Mamour Fall
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Capital Flows ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Fiscal Consolidation ◽  
Policy Shocks ◽  
Short Run ◽  
Fiscal Consolidations ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Spending Cuts

Do discretionary spending cuts and tax increases hurt social well-being? To answer this question, we combine subjective well-being data covering over half a million of individuals across 13 European countries, with macroeconomic data on fiscal consolidations. We find that fiscal consolidations reduce individual well-being in the short run, especially when they are based on spending cuts. In addition, we show that accompanying monetary and exchange rate policies (disinflation, depreciations and the liberalization of capital flows) mitigate the well-being cost of fiscal consolidations. Finally, we investigate the well-being consequences of the two well-knowns expansionary fiscal consolidations episodes taking place in the 80s (in Denmark and Ireland). We find that even expansionary fiscal consolidations can have well-being costs. Our results may therefore shed some light on why some governments may choose to consolidate through taxes even at the cost of economic growth. Indeed, if spending cuts are to generate a large well-being loss, they can trigger an opposition and protest against a fiscal consolidation plan and hence making it politically costly.

scholarly journals American Gothic: How Chicago Economics Distorts “Consumer Welfare” in Antitrust

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-35
Author(s):  
Mark Glick
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Consumer Welfare ◽  
Chicago School ◽  
Antitrust Policy ◽  
Lower Price ◽  
Antitrust Enforcement ◽  
American Gothic ◽  
School Vision ◽  
Short Run

Since the publication of Robert Bork’s The Antitrust Paradox, lawyers, judges, and many economists have defended “Consumer welfare” (CW) as a standard for decisions about antitrust goals and enforcement priorities. This paper argues that the CW is actually an empty concept and is an inappropriate goal for antitrust. Welfare economists concede that there is no credible measurable link between price and output and human well-being. This means that the concept of CW does not legitimate limited antitrust enforcement, nor does it justify the exclusion of other antitrust goals that require more active enforcement practices. This paper contends that antitrust policy is not welfare based at all, and that if it were, antitrust policy and enforcement would differ significantly from the Chicago School vision. Without the fiction that economists can establish that in the short run lower price and higher output measurably increases welfare more than other goals, recent defenses of the CW standard resolve down to arguments based on unsupported assumptions.

scholarly journals From Data to Causes I: Building A General Cross-Lagged Panel Model (GCLM)

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 651-687 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Zyphur ◽  
Paul D. Allison ◽  
Louis Tay ◽  
Manuel C. Voelkle ◽  
Kristopher J. Preacher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Causal Inference ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
National Income ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Panel Model ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Short Run

This is the first paper in a series of two that synthesizes, compares, and extends methods for causal inference with longitudinal panel data in a structural equation modeling (SEM) framework. Starting with a cross-lagged approach, this paper builds a general cross-lagged panel model (GCLM) with parameters to account for stable factors while increasing the range of dynamic processes that can be modeled. We illustrate the GCLM by examining the relationship between national income and subjective well-being (SWB), showing how to examine hypotheses about short-run (via Granger-Sims tests) versus long-run effects (via impulse responses). When controlling for stable factors, we find no short-run or long-run effects among these variables, showing national SWB to be relatively stable, whereas income is less so. Our second paper addresses the differences between the GCLM and other methods. Online Supplementary Materials offer an Excel file automating GCLM input for Mplus (with an example also for Lavaan in R) and analyses using additional data sets and all program input/output. We also offer an introductory GCLM presentation at https://youtu.be/tHnnaRNPbXs . We conclude with a discussion of issues surrounding causal inference.

scholarly journals The SDGs and human well-being: a global analysis of synergies, trade-offs, and regional differences

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan-Emmanuel De Neve ◽  
Jeffrey D. Sachs
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Global Analysis ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Decomposition Methods ◽  
Strong Positive Correlation ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Short Run ◽  
Being There

Abstract This paper explores the empirical links between achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and subjective well-being. Globally, we find that in terms of well-being, there are increasing marginal returns to sustainable development. Unpacking the SDGs by looking at how each SDG relates to well-being shows, in most cases, a strong positive correlation. However, SDG12 (responsible production and consumption) and SDG13 (climate action) are negatively correlated with well-being. This suggests that in the short run there may be certain trade-offs to sustainable development, and further heterogeneity is revealed through an analysis of how these relationships play out by region. Variance decomposition methods also suggest large differences in how each SDG contributes to explaining the variance in well-being between countries. These and other empirical insights highlight that more complex and contextualized policy efforts are needed in order to achieve sustainable development while optimising for well-being.

scholarly journals Adaptation and Loss Aversion in the Relationship Between GDP and Subjective Well-Being

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matti Hovi ◽  
Jani-Petri Laamanen
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Loss Aversion ◽  
National Income ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Short Run ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Over Time

Abstract We examine the roles of macro-level adaptation — including social comparison effects becoming more important over time — and macroeconomic loss aversion in the time-series relationship between national income and subjective well-being. Models allowing for these phenomena are applied to cross-country panel data. We find evidence for macroeconomic loss aversion that becomes more important over time: the effects of economic growth become small and statistically insignificant in the long run, whereas the effects of contractions are large and long-lasting. The results are consistent with the Easterlin paradox and point to it being explained by macro-level adaptation to economic growth. Our results highlight the importance of allowing for both dynamics to distinguish long-run from short-run effects and asymmetries to recognize the important effects of contractions. Failing to do the former leads to a misleading impression of the long-run relationship between economic growth and well-being.

scholarly journals Consuming well-being and happiness through epicurean ingestion

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 595-607
Author(s):  
Temitope Sarah Bodunrin ◽  
Tim Stone
Keyword(s):  
Food Consumption ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Food Ingestion ◽  
Slow Food ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Personal Investment ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Qualitative Methodologies

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the idea of eating for pleasure and its effect on consumer well-being. It begins by introducing the concept of food well-being (FWB) under the transformative consumer research (TCR) agenda. Subsequently, it provides detailed discussions on the concept of pleasure, under which food practices involving epicurean pleasure and hedonic and eudaimonic consumption will be discussed. Design/methodology/approach This paper takes a different approach to the usual qualitative methodologies by using the introspective analysis of the film Eat, Pray, Love where the consumption of food for pleasure was heavily practiced. Findings This paper presents the introspective voice of the lead author’s food consumption. It reveals a food consumption practice which followed an initial loss of taste, to alternative food consumption (AFC) and finally slow food ingestion. The journey of her epicurean ingestion revealed pleasurable experiences that reflected a positive subjective well-being (SWB). This attitude of ingesting food and living for the moment propelled the idea that food well-being is more about consumer happiness. Originality/value This paper is novel in its approach to use film introspection to probe the concept of FWB within TCR. Additionally, it reveals the transitioning moment of AFC that leads to pleasurable experience. It also reveals that a personal investment in cooking for self restores taste and improves SWB. Overall, it showcases how the appreciation of the sensations of food from its taste, as it was ingested gradually, leads to the total experiential feeling embedded in food consumption.

scholarly journals Horizontal Collectivism Moderates the Relationship Between in-the-Moment Social Connections and Well-Being Among Latino/a College Students

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Hussain ◽  
Carmen Kho ◽  
Alexandra Main ◽  
Matthew J. Zawadzki
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Sleep Problems ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Connections ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Ecological Momentary ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Momentary Assessment

AbstractSleep problems and poorer well-being may be particularly salient for Latino/a college students as they tend to experience sociocultural adjustments during this transitory time. Social connections, a correlate of health, change moment-to-moment for college students and may be experienced differently for people who more strongly endorse horizontal collectivist cultural values. We used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine how in-the-moment social connections influence in-the-moment health, and how horizontal collectivism moderates the moment-to-moment associations. Self-identified Latino/a college students (n = 221) completed a demographic information and cultural values questionnaire and then responded to EMA measures on their social connections, affective and subjective well-being, and sleep for 14 consecutive days. Better in-the-moment social connections associated with better health. Horizontal collectivism moderated some, but not all associations between social connections and health. Social connections are multidimensional and differently predict in-the-moment health among Latino/a college students who more strongly endorse horizontal collectivistic values. We discuss implications for identifying vulnerable well-being moments among this understudied population.

scholarly journals Values, coping and well-being of parents with children with genetic diseases: narratives content analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 112-120
Author(s):  
Ol’ga V. Kirpichnik ◽  
Ol’ga A. Yekimchik
Keyword(s):  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Genetic Disease ◽  
Genetic Diseases ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Mothers And Fathers ◽  
Children With Down Syndrome ◽  
Emotional Aspect ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Angular Transformation

The paper discusses one of topical problems, connected to a distress of a child being diagnosed with a genetic disease situation – parents’ coping with that. An attempt was made to determine what strategies and resources not only contribute to the parental coping with the situation of the child’s diagnosis, but also the subjective well-being of the parents? The authors present the results of narratives of native parents of children with Down syndrome (received from charity societies and open sources; n = 52). The emotional aspect of parents’ experience, their difficulties at the stage of recognising the diagnosis, coping strategies and resources involved in accepting process, and the parents` subjective well-being at the stages of recognising the diagnosis and the stage of the interview (after 1—12 years) are analysed. The Ronald Fisher's multifunctional angular transformation was used for analysing the differences. Mothers and fathers show no differences in the perception and assessment of difficulties at the stages of recognition of the diagnosis and the moment of the interview, but there are significant differences in the resources and strategies for coping with these difficulties. Features of difficulties at different stages, differences in the structure of resources and the intensity of coping strategies (especially among mothers) indicate the dynamics of experiencing the situation and adapting to it.

How Chicago Economics Distorts “Consumer Welfare” in Antitrust

2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 495-513
Author(s):  
Mark Glick
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Consumer Welfare ◽  
Chicago School ◽  
Antitrust Policy ◽  
Lower Price ◽  
Antitrust Enforcement ◽  
School Vision ◽  
Short Run

Since the publication of Robert Bork’s The Antitrust Paradox, lawyers, judges, and many economists have defended “consumer welfare” (CW) as a standard for decisions about antitrust goals and enforcement priorities. This article argues that the CW is actually an empty concept and is an inappropriate goal for antitrust. Judge Bork adopted CW from economics where welfare unambiguously measured utility or well-being. Welfare economists concede that there is no credible measurable link between price and output and human well-being. This means that the concept of CW does not legitimate limited antitrust enforcement nor does it justify the exclusion of other antitrust goals that require more active enforcement practices. This article contends that antitrust policy is not welfare based at all and, that if it were, antitrust policy and enforcement would differ significantly from the Chicago School vision. Without the fiction that economists can establish that in the short run lower price and higher output measurably increase welfare more than other goals, recent defenses of the CW standard resolve down to arguments based on unsupported assumptions.

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