How to Not Die Alone: The Surprising Science of Finding Love

by Logan Ury

Here’s an example of how that plays out with our food choices. A few years ago, Google diagnosed its employees with “an M&M problem.” To nudge them into making healthier food decisions, an internal team of behavioral scientists changed the environment in which the snacks were presented. They stopped offering M&M’s in giant clear bins that enticed snackers with the multicolored chocolate treats. They moved the candies to clearly labeled but opaque containers, where they would be less tempting. Healthier snacks, like dried figs and pistachios, sat nearby in clear glass jars. These were bright tech workers who had known the healthy snacks were available the whole time. But merely changing the environment in which food choices were presented resulted in employees eating 3.1 million fewer M&M calories over seven weeks in the New York office alone.

Interesting