Can health trump taste? Implicit and explicit attitudes toward sugar‐reduction claims and their differentiated impact on purchase intention for cereals

This study investigates the implicit and explicit health–taste tradeoffs that consumers make in response to sugar‐reduction claims on chocolate cereals. We collect implicit measures through an Implicit Association Test, explicit perceptions of health and taste properties, and statements regarding product liking and purchase intention through a questionnaire. Based on a path analysis, we assess the relative strength of the indirect effects of sugar‐reduction claims mediated by health and taste perceptions, as well as the direct effects on purchase intention. The results indicate that sugar‐reduction claims decrease taste perceptions, increase health perceptions, and have only minor negative effects on product liking, but increase purchase intentions. Most participants show an implicit “unhealthy = tasty” intuition, which can be offset by moderate to high health consciousness. The implications for marketing and policymakers are twofold. First, our study shows that sugar‐reduction claims are effective in addressing the original target group of health‐conscious consumers. Second, our results suggest that the health–taste tradeoff is not prohibitively detrimental to purchase intentions among less health‐conscious consumers. Potential instruments to increase the market share in this segment are discussed [EconLit Citations: I18, D12, D83].