Dunning-Kruger effect with muesli bars

Those who know the least consider themselves highly competent

29-Nov-2023

The Dunning-Kruger effect can be observed in many areas: Those who know the least often consider themselves to be particularly competent; while those who have a lot of knowledge tend to underestimate their own competence. A research team has now investigated the extent to which this phenomenon can be observed in the areas of media and nutrition. The results clearly show that even when it comes to evaluating the supposedly healthy low-carb bar, those who are not at all competent consider themselves to be particularly competent.

Rebecca Scheiber, Matthias Karmasin and Sandra Diehl (all from the Institute of Media and Communication Studies at the University of Klagenfurt) surveyed one thousand people representing the Austrian population. The study participants were confronted with a fictitious advertisement for a supposedly healthy chocolate muesli bar. While the ad advertised "protein" and "low carb", it was up to the study participants to estimate nutritional values.

The results clearly show that the Dunning-Kruger effect applies to both. Those who knew the least about the potentially misleading advertising strategies used to market an unhealthy product as healthy and about the actual nutritional values of an advertised muesli bar were the most likely to overestimate their own food and media literacy. The reverse effect was also confirmed.

"The problem is that people with a low level of knowledge are also more likely to be active users of social media," explains Rebecca Scheiber. This could mean that their incorrect knowledge is spread more easily via these channels. However, other partial results of the study show a more optimistic picture, as Scheiber explains further: "The well-informed are also often seen as opinion leaders, which means that they can positively influence others with their knowledge."

The findings are extremely relevant for decision-makers in health communication: "We not only need more education about misleading advertising and nutritional values of food, but also about the Dunning-Kruger effect. People should be aware that their self-assessment may be incorrect." The effect is particularly insidious for consumers in this case, as Scheiber continues: "Consumers with the least skills but with high confidence in their abilities are the most susceptible to misleading food advertising, as they are less skeptical and more willing to buy the product without being aware of the potentially negative effects of the product."

The research team recommends that health communication campaigns are aware of these effects and take them into account accordingly. Ultimately, however, stricter legal regulations are needed, especially for food labeling, as consumers' self-assessment is flawed and inaccurate.

Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.

Original publication

Rebecca Scheiber, Matthias Karmasin, Sandra Diehl; "Exploring the Dunning-Kruger Effect in Health Communication: How Perceived Food and Media Literacy and Actual Knowledge Drift Apart When Evaluating Misleading Food Advertising"; Journal of Health Communication, Volume 28, 2023-10-19

https://www.yumda.com/en/news/1182151/dunning-kruger-effect-with-muesli-bars.html