All You Can Eat, More Than You Need: The psychology behind overconsumption

A/Prof Yimin Cheng, 2026

Purpose

Overconsumption under flat-rate pricing – buffets, all-inclusive stays, day passes – threatens both sustainability and profitability across hospitality and tourism. Yimin Cheng set out to understand what really drives it.

Practice

Across three laboratory experiments and one field experiment in a fast-food restaurant, the research found that people who believe strongly in the Protestant Work Ethic emphasise input-outcome correspondence, making them more likely to feel entitled to consume more as their spending rises – while those who believe weakly in it do not overconsume.

Output

The findings were published in the Journal of Sustainable Tourism (ABDC A*) and presented at ACR, SCP and ANZMAC conferences, identifying an individual difference factor previous literature had overlooked.

Outcome and impact

Tourism businesses using flat-rate pricing can now predict and mitigate overconsumption, targeting high- or low-protestant work ethic consumers by price point – enhancing profitability while promoting planetary sustainability, with methods to identify these consumer segments set out directly in the research.