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When a Short Pour Isn't: How the Shape of a Glass Influences How Much You Pour

In a recent study, researchers confirmed that people are more likely to underestimate the amount of liquid they pour into a shorter, wider glass and overestimate the amount when poured into a taller, slender glass. Time and again, consumers asked to pour a specified amount into each of two different glasses will pour significantly more into the short/wide glass. This "elongation effect" has been studied several times before, but this study extended the findings to include observations that:

Even experienced bartenders are susceptible to it;
Color or nature of the liquid (juice, alcohol, etc.) does not change the tendency; and,
Children appear to be even more influenced by the shape of the glass.

Implications
Restaurants, bars, and food service providers might increase profitability (and reduce waste) without sacrificing customer satisfaction by switching to taller, narrower glasses and cups. Beverage marketers can create higher perceived value (volume/$) with short/wide containers. Parents could use the short/wide trick to get kids to drink more milk. But low-carb/low-cal products might best be presented in taller containers.

Controlled-dosage liquids must provide "fill-to" lines to prevent over-pouring. Alternatively, making the package and pouring process a bit more complicated might increase the amount of attention required and reduce the elongation effect.

It leaves us wondering if anyone has applied this thinking to chocolate bars or ice cream bowls?

From "Bottoms Up! How Container Shapes Influence Pouring and Consumption Volume," a paper by Brian Wansink and Koert van Ittersum. Available at www.msi.org.