Research paper
Woolley K, Fishbach A. A recipe for friendship: Similar food consumption promotes trust and cooperation. Journal of Consumer Psychology. 2017 Jan;27(1):1-10. doi:10.1016/j.jcps.2016.06.003.
Why we cite it
Three experimental studies demonstrating that people who consume similar foods — even incidentally (assigned, not chosen) — feel closer, trust each other more, and cooperate more effectively. Study 1: strangers eating the same candy gave more money in a trust game. Study 2: strangers eating similar foods cooperated more effectively in a labour-management negotiation and earned more money. Study 3: consumers trusted product information more when the advertiser ate similar food to them (extending the effect to parasocial/advertising contexts). Establishes that food synchrony serves as a social bonding mechanism independent of mere co-presence. Relevant to companion 389 (social-identity-conflict) as evidence that food choices signal group membership and that eating differently from others can create social friction.