A study published in the journal Judgment and Decision Making reveals that consumers view organic foods as being lower in calories than non-organic products.
In one experiment, researchers asked 114 college students to read nutrition labels on two packages of cookies, one made with organic flour and one made with non-organic flour. The labels clearly stated that both types of cookies contained 160 calories, but when participants were asked if the organic cookies contained fewer or more calories than the other cookies, they said the organic cookies contained fewer calories. They also responded that the organic cookies could be eaten more often than the non-organic cookies.
In a second experiment, 215 participants read about a character who wanted to lose weight but also wanted to skip an after-dinner run. The participants were alternately told she had chosen an organic dessert, a non-organic dessert or no dessert at all at dinner. The experiment revealed that the participants were more likely to excuse the character's decision to skip her run when they had been told she had eaten an organic dessert, even over no dessert at all.