“If it’s good for your health, it’s expensive.” This is a widespread idea among consumers, which can concretely influence their choice when faced with products of different prices. This is what an American study published in the Journal of Consumer Research shows. Rebecca Reczek and her team have carried out several experiments designed to study the influence of price on the “health” assessment of a product by consumers.
First, the researchers asked the participants to evaluate the price of an unknown food according to its quality for health. The same food, billed as a ‘granola bite’, was found to be more expensive when associated with greater health benefit. Conversely, a breakfast is considered healthier when it is more expensive.
Effects on purchasing behavior
These perceptual evaluations of price and health benefits have an impact on the purchasing behavior of consumers. In another experiment, volunteers asked a colleague to order lunch for them, whether or not they wanted it to be healthy. Colleagues had to choose from two similar dishes at two different prices. They had the full list of ingredients. Colleagues more often chose the most expensive dish, whatever it was, when the volunteer asked for a healthy menu.
Other participants were presented with a protein bar with the slogan “the healthiest protein bar on the planet”. The experimenters explained that this product would be put in competition with bars sold around 2 euros on average. They would then tell some participants that the healthy bar would sell for 99 cents, and others that it would be worth $ 4. The volunteers could then read scientific articles and analyzes on the bar. Those who were introduced to the protein bar as very inexpensive read more articles than those who said the bar cost $ 4. For Rebecca Reczek, “people cannot imagine that the ‘healthiest protein bar on the planet’ costs less than the average of other bars.”
Consumers Under Influence
The latest experience in the study shows that a health claim can increase consumers’ interest in a particular aspect of their health. The researchers presented assortments of dried fruits with the words “rich in vitamin A for eye health”, or “rich in DHA for eye health” (both of which actually have beneficial properties for the eyes). Scientists have previously determined that vitamin A is much more widely known to the public than DHA, as a rule. In addition, some participants had to deal with an average price product, others with an expensive product.
They were then asked to rate the perception of the key ingredient. Along with vitamin A, volunteers reported that the ingredient was just as important in a healthy diet, regardless of the cost. With DHA, participants said it was more important when the product was expensive. “People are familiar with vitamin A, so they feel they can judge the value without taking the price into account, but they are forced to refer to the widespread ‘healthy = expensive’ theory regarding the DHA that they don’t. do not know “, explains the main author of the work. The researcher warns: “prejudices of this type make shopping easier for us and we assume to pay more for something better for our health. However, this misleads us. We should compare nutritional qualities and use facts rather than our intuition. “
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