Healthy Relationships and Healthy Eating: How Stressful Events and Social Support Affect Indulgence

Chiraag Mittal, Reza Mousavi, Kelly L. Haws

Journal of Marketing · 2026 · Volume 90 · Issue 3

Abstract

The authors investigate how acute stress and social support jointly influence indulgent food decision-making using lab experiments and a unique combination of large-scale datasets. The experiments reveal that social support moderates the effect of stress on indulgent food choices, with individuals with lower support more likely to indulge under stress. The authors argue that this occurs because social support provides psychological resources that help individuals regulate their behavior under stress. Using a process-by-moderation approach, the authors demonstrate that providing contextual support, enhancing perceived control, and promoting deliberative thinking attenuate the effect of low social support on indulgent behavior under stress. At a broader level, they test these predictions by analyzing the impact of Hurricane Sandy, an exogenous stressor, on indulgent food purchases. A difference-in-difference analysis in a natural experiment reveals that while areas affected by the hurricane experienced a significant rise in indulgent food sales, this increase was attenuated in communities with higher social support, suggesting that the availability of social resources plays a critical role in moderating stress-driven consumption. This research highlights how social support shapes stress-induced consumption patterns and identifies novel factors that affect indulgent food choices on a real-world and large-scale basis.

Keywords

stressors, social support, natural disasters, indulgence, choice, controlled and natural experiments, difference-in-difference analysis Note: This manuscript was submitted to JM before Kelly Haws's appointment as Coeditor. The Coeditor that began the review process, Vanitha Swaminathan, finished the review process and final acceptance, per the AMA policy on submissions by journal editors.

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