Size, shape and color of wine glass affect how much you pour
We love a good glass of wine to, um, unwine-d. But turns out, most of us sipping at home are pouring more than we think! One glass could hold more than one serving, because how much we’re actually pouring depends on a variety of environmental factors.
“People have trouble assessing volumes,” says Laura Smarandescu, an assistant professor of marketing at Iowa State. “They tend to focus more on the vertical than the horizontal measures. That’s why people tend to drink less when they drink from a narrow glass, because they think they’re drinking more.”
Researchers at Iowa State and Cornell universities discovered:
- Participants poured around 12 percent more wine into a wide glass than a standard one
- The same was true when holding a glass while pouring compared to placing the glass on a table
- The contrast between the glass and color of the wine also made a significant difference.
- When pouring white wine into a clear glass, participants poured 9 percent more than pouring red, which had a greater contrast to the glass.
A standard serving of wine is 5 ounces, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. But Doug Walker, an assistant professor of marketing at Iowa State and lead author of the study, says his research has serious consequences when it comes to overconsumption.
Learning to control wine serving size
Unlike eating too much, there are more immediate and serious consequences associated with drinking too much. Brian Wansink, director of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell, says it is easy to help people drink less: “If you want to pour and drink less wine, stick to the red wine glasses and only pour if your glass is on the table or counter and not in your hand – in either case you’ll pour about 9-12 percent less.”
Caption: Study participants were asked to pour what they considered a normal drink.
Credit: Brian Wansink, Cornell University