Encouraging online consumers into making better food choices: The power of nature exposure on healthy food choices.

Background: online environments can influence food desire and choices. We tested if online calming nature and stressful street environments can affect desire for healthy and unhealthy foods.

Method: we asked 238 participants (40 ± 14 yrs) to rate their desire (100 mm VAS) for 7 low calorie nutrient rich foods (Healthy) and 7 high calorie nutrient poor foods (Unhealthy), and perceived stress (state anxiety in STAI), before and after imagining themselves in a control, nature park, or busy street condition.

Results: participants who imagined themselves being in a nature park had a significant higher desire for Healthy foods, than participants in the busy street condition (p < 0.05). Participants in the busy street condition decreased their desire for Healthy foods after they imagined themselves in a busy street (p < 0.05)). However, perceived stress did not impact the association between condition and desire for low calorie foods nor high calorie foods.

Conclusion: this study suggests that online environments can have an impact on healthy food desires, which could be of importance for the increased number of food choices which are made in online environments.