The adaptive eater: Perceived healthiness moderates the effect of the color red on consumption

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Authors

Previous studies suggest that the color red reduces food intake because it signals danger and hence acts as a consumption-stopping cue. We demonstrate that this effect cannot be generalized to just any kind of food. Consequently, we show that the color red-despite eliciting similar associations-affects behavior more strongly with regard to unhealthy (potentially harmful) food compared to healthy food. Specifically, the color red more strongly influenced the amount of unhealthy food intake (Study 1) and the choice of unhealthy food options (Study 2) compared to healthy food. Study 2 further demonstrated that the impact of color on behavior decreases gradually as food options become healthier. Moreover, the effect can be observed for subtle (Study 1) as well as salient (Study 2) color cues. These results suggest that consumers do not react in a generalized but in an adaptive way to the color red.

Original languageEnglish
JournalFood Quality and Preference
Volume44
Pages (from-to)172-178
Number of pages7
ISSN0950-3293
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.09.2015
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd.

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