Effects of perceived quality of container on water and snack intake and dyadic communication

The present study investigated whether the perceived quality of a container affects water and snack intake and the subjective qualities of dyadic conversation between undergraduate students. In the experiment, thirty pairs of participants were randomly assigned to two conditions: the high-quality container (HQ) condition, in which participants were provided with high quality glasses from which to drink water, and the low-quality container (LQ) condition, in which participants used ordinary plastic cups. In each condition, pairs of participants were seated at a table and asked to engage in spontaneous and unstructured conversation about certain topics of their choice while consuming water and snacks. The results demonstrate that a greater amount of water was consumed in the LQ condition than in the HQ condition, while the halo effect of container quality increased the perceived quality of the snacks. Furthermore, the results of the self-evaluation for dyadic conversation revealed that the participants in the LQ condition more often reported their conversations to be cooperative, animated and less clumsy than did those in the HQ condition. These results suggest that the accessibility of a container as derived from its perceived quality affects participants' water and snack consumption and the qualities of dyadic communication.