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Fifty shades of food: The influence of package color saturation on health and taste in consumer judgments
Author(s) -
Kunz Sonja,
Haasova Simona,
Florack Arnd
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
psychology and marketing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.035
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1520-6793
pISSN - 0742-6046
DOI - 10.1002/mar.21317
Subject(s) - psychology , product (mathematics) , advertising , taste , grayscale , social psychology , mathematics , artificial intelligence , computer science , business , image (mathematics) , geometry , neuroscience
When evaluating food products, consumers rely on visual cues on packages to infer their healthiness and tastiness. We assumed that color, specifically color saturation, is one such cue, similarly relevant for both healthiness and tastiness inferences. We conducted three studies in which we manipulated the color of pictures of product packages. Participants viewed pictures from the category of snacks (Study 1a) and drinks (Studies 1b and 2), available at a supermarket's online store and rated each product on the dimensions of healthiness and tastiness. In two studies, we showed one group of participants product pictures only as grayscale images, whereas another group viewed the pictures in full color. In a third study, we showed participants product pictures once with increased and once with decreased color saturation. We consistently found a positive correlation between healthiness and tastiness. Presenting pictures of products as grayscale images weakened the healthy‐tasty correlation. Products with increased compared with decreased color saturation were rated as both healthier and tastier, mediated by the products' perceived freshness.