Two new marketing studies have found that some people actually tend to consume more calories when junk food portions and packages are smaller.
In recent years, several brand-name products, have been released in smaller packages promoted as having just 100 calories. One new study found that many people believe smaller packages help them regulate their consumption, but in fact their consumption can actually increase.
In the other study, participants were sorted into two groups to test M&M’s in regular and small packages. The groups consisted of restrained and unrestrained eaters. However, the “restrained” eaters -- chronic dieters, basically -- tended to consume more calories from mini-packs than unrestrained participants.