ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the evidence that exposure to temptation typically increases consumption and addresses the notable exception, the pre-exposure effect. It discusses the relation between the pre-exposure effect and the nudge concept. The mechanism underlying the pre-exposure effect has proven challenging to identify. Knowing the mechanism would not only enhance our understanding of the way people regulate their food intake but may also come in handy to increase the efficiency of the technique, with a view to possibly lifting it up to a viable intervention. The chapter discusses the relation between the pre-exposure effects and nudges and show how attention for the long-term effects of nudges could give rise to a behavioral engineering approach to tackle self-control problems. Self-control occurs when an individual changes her default course of action, which would be indulging in the pleasure, and instead successfully resists the temptation.
