The Big Gulp may be more than a flood of empty calories: Sometimes it might actually be a status symbol.
In the well-revered American tradition of “bigger is better,” supersized drinks can actually make us feel better about ourselves – and make others more impressed with us, a new study shows.
People tend to think that only expensive or scarce resources can confer status, said study co-author Derek Rucker, an associate professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. “But we often seek status in more mundane products, as well,” he added.
To see how the status-effect plays out in our purchases of commonplace commodities such as smoothies and coffee, Rucker and his colleagues ran a set of intriguing experiments that were described in the latest Journal of Consumer Research.
In the first experiment, study volunteers were shown photos of people holding different-sized drinks and then asked to rate the status of the people in the pictures. Amazingly, the people with the largest drinks got the highest scores for status –- something you might want to remember next time you have coffee with your boss.
In another experiment, Rucker asked half his volunteers to remember a time when they were in a position to boss others around. The other half were asked to recall a time when they were bossed around and felt powerless. Later the volunteers were asked to rate how powerful they felt. Not surprisingly, the ones who had been dwelling on memories of a day in which they were bossed around felt the least powerful.
Next, the volunteers were offered a choice of three smoothies that were exactly the same except for their size. As it turns out, those who felt the least powerful chose the biggest smoothies.
“The surprise is that even in very mundane decisions, like whether we’re going to buy a Big Gulp, the decision is not completely dependent on things like how thirsty you are,” Rucker said. “It’s also tied in to how much power you feel you have.”
With the tepid state of the economy, we might see a lot more people choosing to supersize – and a lot more weight gain in the population.
But even though the effect is probably seen more often in those who feel disenfranchised, it can impact any of us.
“Regardless of our normal place in status hierarchy, we can all feel lower status in different situations,” Rucker said. “You might be a boss and feel powerful, until someone higher up chews you out.”
That’s when you’re going to feel the urge to reach for a Big Gulp.
Related: States come calling for higher taxes on soda, candy