Consumers make many of their snack choices in the physical
environments of grocery stores and kiosks or from vending
machines in public places, companies or schools. They often choose
particular snacks from among similar options. Overconsumption of
high caloric snacks is a risk factor for becoming overweight
(Berteus-Forslund, Torgerson, Sjostrom, & Lindroos, 2005). Considering
this risk, the question arises whether rearrangements of
physical environments may have the potential to influence people
to choose lower-calorie snacks from among similar options.
Rearranging the environment of food choices has increasingly
been discussed in the context of ‘‘nudging’’. Nudging is defined as
changing the presentation of choice options in a way that makes
the desired choice the easy, automatic and default option (Thaler
& Sunstein, 2008).