Backfired Expectations: The Effect Of Labels And Advertising Claims On Consumers Response

The main challenge in successfully communicating health and/or taste benefits is to actually meet consumers’ expectations generated by the information provided on the front of the package. The current study addresses this challenge by manipulating the presence of health label (present vs. absent) and advertising claims (health vs. taste) on the front of the package of cereal bars and potato chips, representing respectively, healthy and less healthy product category. After being exposed to one of the packages, respondents had to taste the product. Attention to the information displayed front-of-pack, and consequent effect on actual taste evaluation, health product perception, and buying intention were measured. For healthy product category, taste and health benefit claims performed equally well. By contrast, for less healthy product category, taste benefit claim influenced positively the taste perception and consequent buying intention.