Glassware design and drinking behaviours: a review of impact and mechanisms using a new typology of drinking behaviours

Journal article

Much of the global burden of disease is attributable to unhealthy behaviour, including excessive consumption of alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverages. Developing effective methods to change these drinking behaviours could inform policies to improve population health. In line with an increasing interest in environmental-level interventions – i.e. changing the environment in which a behaviour occurs in order to change the behaviour of interest – this review first describes the existing evidence of the impact of glassware design (including capacity and shape) on drinking behaviours (e.g. at the ‘micro’ level – including sip size, as well as at the macro level – including amount consumed). The roles of two sets of possible underlying mechanisms – perception and affordance – are also explored. Finally, this review sets out a provisional typology of drinking behaviours to enable more systematic approaches to the study of these behaviours. While there is a paucity of evidence – in particular on measures of consumption – this growing evidence base suggests promising targets for novel interventions involving glassware design to reduce the consumption of drinks that harm health.
Trial registration: ISRCTN.org identifier: ISRCTN10456720.

Authors: Langfield, T; Pechey, R; Pilling, MA; Marteau, TM

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Journal: Health Psychology Review
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 81-103
• Publication date: 2020-11-18
• Acceptance date: 2020-10-19
• DOI: 10.1080/17437199.2020.1842230
• EISSN: 1743-7202
• ISSN: 1743-7199
• Language: English
• Keywords: drinking; glassware design; affordance; visual perception; drinking topography; perceptual effects; micro-drinking behaviours; choice architecture; FFR