The results, published in the Journal of Consumer Behaviour, also suggest that exposure to subtle reminders of companionate love lead to a greater likelihood of making healthy eating choices than subtle reminders of sexual love.

Researchers conducted three experiments, showing symbols of different types of love and snack choices. Results suggest that there is convergent evidence that symbols representing different types of love can influence whether people make healthy food choices.

They explain that the types of love activate either distal or proximal temporal construal processing, which might have contributed to choice decision.

The experiments support the notion that companionate and sexual love thoughts can produce different outcomes when it comes to a choice set. They also support previous studies that posited a relationship between distant and proximal thinking to short-term and long-term goal achievement.

The results offer implications for marketing practice, public health and wellness, researchers noted.