Prior research documents deleterious consequences of the annual clock change to daylight saving time in many contexts, but little is known about the effect the policy has on consumer behavior. While policy debates around ending seasonal clock changes continue, millions of consumers worldwide are potentially adversely affected by the time change. Drawing on the notions of sleepiness and self-control, the authors propose a framework of how the onset of daylight saving time increases unhealthy behavior. The hypotheses are tested via two studies cast in the difference-in-differences modeling framework capturing consumption before and after the time change and across consumers who experience the transition versus who do not. Results of the first study suggest that the onset of daylight saving time increases calorie consumption from packaged snacks that are largely unhealthy, specifically in the evening and on cloudy days. The effect of the end of daylight saving time is not significant, suggesting an overall asymmetric effect of the time change on unhealthy behavior. Study 2 reveals that the onset of daylight saving time decreases fitness center visits, particularly for consumers without healthy consumption habits and with high transaction costs. Analysis of social media data suggests that consumers find the time change disruptive. Overall, the findings imply that public policy makers and businesses should find ways to support consumers around the onset of daylight saving time.

中文翻译：

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EXPRESS：前进=回落？夏令时变化对消费者不健康行为的影响

先前的研究记录了在许多情况下每年时钟更改为夏令时的有害后果，但人们对该政策对消费者行为的影响知之甚少。尽管围绕结束季节性时钟变化的政策争论仍在继续，但全球数百万消费者可能会受到时间变化的不利影响。作者利用困倦和自我控制的概念，提出了一个框架，说明夏令时的开始如何增加不健康的行为。这些假设通过两项基于双重差异模型框架的研究进行了检验，这些研究捕获了时间变化之前和之后的消费情况，以及经历过转变的消费者与没有经历过转变的消费者的消费情况。第一项研究的结果表明，夏令时的开始会增加包装零食的卡路里消耗，而这些零食在很大程度上是不健康的，特别是在晚上和阴天。夏令时结束的影响并不显着，表明时间变化对不健康行为的总体影响不对称。研究2显示，夏令时的开始减少了健身中心的访问量，特别是对于没有健康消费习惯且交易成本较高的消费者而言。对社交媒体数据的分析表明，消费者认为时间变化具有破坏性。总体而言，研究结果表明公共政策制定者和企业应该在夏令时开始时找到支持消费者的方法。