The Effect of Mukbang on the Desire to Eat

Mukbang is an online eating broadcast where a host (Asian mukbangs generally feature a young and slim female host) consumes a large amount of food while chatting with audiences. Since some dieters watch mukbang to get satiation and control their appetites, the current study is aimed at testing the effect of mukbang on the desire to eat.

Two randomized and controlled trails are conducted. The first randomized and controlled trail is conducted online using the Amazon Mturk. Participants (n=286) were randomly assigned to watch one of the following 3 videos: ramen mukbang (n=98), donut mukbang (n=97) and a non-food content video (n=91). The other study is a in person study. Participants (n=234) were randomly assigned to watch one of the following 3 videos: hotpot mukbang (n=79), hotpot cooking show (n=76) and a non-food content video (n=79).

The investigators used the self-report survey to test whether the mukbang affects the desire to eat, and participants' satiation and disgust.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Mukbang
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: watch food video 1; Other: watch food video 2; Other: watch a non-food content video

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 520
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • Ithaca, New York, United States, 14850
      • Cornell University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Female, age at least 18

Exclusion Criteria:

-

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: watch mukbang; In the online study, participants were assigned to watch a ramen mukbang, by Yuka Kinoshita (https://youtu.be/ArPaid2Iuck, accessed: 2018-10-12). In the in-person study, participants were assigned to watch a hotpot mukbang by Alun (https://youtu.be/QCTOo9UGZD8, accessed: 2018-11-29).	Other: watch food video 1; A 2 minutes video, with food content. The first study used a ramen mukbang here, the second study used a hotpot mukbang.
Experimental: watch another food content video; In the online study, participants were assigned to watch a donut mukbang, by Yuka Kinoshita (https://youtu.be/ntMT2y0MgHk, accessed: 2018-10-12). In the in-person study, participants were assigned to watch a hotpot cooking show by the Cat's kitchen (https://youtu.be/EH5Ei-sMP60, accessed: 2018-11-29).	Other: watch food video 2; A 2 minutes video, with food content (different content from video 1). The first study used a donut mukbang here, the second study used a hotpot cooking show here.
Placebo Comparator: watch a non-food content video; In the online study, participants were assigned to watch a silent documentary introducing the Palace Museum by China Central Television (CCTV) (https://youtu.be/hWnm1BQOTZY, accessed: 2018-10-12). In the in-person study, participants were assigned to watch a video introducing Cornell University is used for the non-food content video (https://youtu.be/GuM8vTq0jd4, accessed: 2018-11-29).	Other: watch a non-food content video; a 2 minutes video without food content. The first study used a documentary introducing the forbidden city, the second study used a documentary introducing Cornell University.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
satiation	participants evaluate their satiation level on a scale from -3 to 3. -3 means not satisfied at all, 3 means very satsfied.	immediately after the intervention (after watching the video)
disgust	participants evaluate their disgust level on a scale from -3 to 3. -3 means not disgust at all, 3 means very disgust.	immediately after the intervention (after watching the video)
pre-video desire to eat food	participants evaluate their desire to eat food on a scale from 0 to 10. 0 means not want to eat food at all, 10 means very want to eat the food.	before watching the video. Evaluating the desire to eat was the first step in the study. After reporting this pre-video desire to eat, participants then watched the video.
post-video desire to eat food	participants evaluate their desire to eat food on a scale from 0 to 10. 0 means do not want to eat food at all, 10 means very want to eat the food.	immediately after watching the video. After watching the video, participants immediately re-evaluated their desire to eat, which is this post-video desire to eat.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Cornell University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 12, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): February 1, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): April 1, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 24, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 24, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): December 30, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 6, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 2, 2020
• Last Verified: January 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: mukbang; desire to eat
• Other Study ID Numbers: 1901008509

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: Undecided

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No