Within the domain of food consumption, we explore the antecedents and consequences of "guilty displeasures," or experiences that consumers should enjoy, but do not. Food is an emotionally charged stimulus, with consumption leading to both positive (e.g., joy) and negative (e.g., guilt) emotions. Individuals who are high in dietary restraint are particularly susceptible to experiencing negative emotions given their heightened state of arousal in the presence of indulgent food. We show that these negative emotions arise even when individuals simply imagine the food. Across one pilot study and three experiments, we provide evidence that restrained eaters actively dampen their enjoyment of indulgences (i.e., guilty displeasures). We manipulate guilt using imagery type, with outcome imagery leading to greater guilt than process imagery (study 1). We also demonstrate that individuals high, compared to low, in dietary restraint dampen their savoring of even a hypothetical indulgence when guilt is evoked (study 2). Finally, we show these effects within the context of actual food consumption (study 3). Our exploration shows that merely anticipating an indulgence can elicit guilt among consumers high in dietary restraint, thus resulting in the dampening of enjoyment during a subsequent consumption experience.

中文翻译：

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内疚不悦：想象中的内疚如何抑制消费者的享受

在食品消费领域，我们探索了“内疚不悦”或消费者应该享受但不享受的体验的前因和后果。食物是一种充满情绪的刺激物，消费会导致积极（例如快乐）和消极（例如内疚）情绪。高度节制饮食的人特别容易受到负面情绪的影响，因为他们在放纵食物的情况下会高度兴奋。我们表明，即使个人只是想象食物，也会出现这些负面情绪。在一项试点研究和三项实验中，我们提供的证据表明，节制的食客会积极抑制他们对放纵的享受（即内疚的不快）。我们使用图像类型来操纵内疚，结果意象导致比过程意象更大的内疚（研究 1）。我们还证明，与低度饮食相比，在引起内疚感时，饮食克制程度高的人甚至会抑制他们对假设性放纵的品味（研究 2）。最后，我们在实际食物消费的背景下展示了这些影响（研究 3）。我们的探索表明，仅仅期待一种放纵会引起高度节制饮食的消费者的内疚，从而导致在随后的消费体验中享受乐趣的减弱。