Desiree Research Report
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Transcript of Desiree Research Report
Running head: COLOR AND FOOD PERCEPTION 1
Effects of color and health perception of food
Desiree Pruitt
Louisiana State University
Section. 1
Running head: COLOR AND FOOD PERCEPTION 2
Abstract
In the present study, color was used as a universal symbol to examine the affects it would have
on health perception of food products. Red was used to denote unhealthy while green was used
to convey a more healthy food choice. Furthermore, articles labeled as healthy or unhealthy were
used to prime and educate the subjects and provide them with a certain mindset before starting
the experiment. It was found that color has an effect on how the product is perceived but does
not affect how unhealthy it’s perceived. The articles did not affect how healthy a product was
perceived but did affect how unhealthy they were perceived. Lastly, neither color nor the articles
had any effect on flavor perception.
Running head: COLOR AND FOOD PERCEPTION 3
Effect of color and health perception of food
Colors such as red and green are considered universal symbols to convey meaning to the
general public. Normally, green indicates something good while red indicates caution or
something bad. In a previous study conducted on the topic, it was investigated how this
concept could be applied to nutritional food labels in the UK, labeling risky foods with red
and nutritious foods in green (Balcombe, K., Fraser, I., & Falco, S.). In another study, other
universal symbols were used such as emoticons displaying normative approval and
disapproval with smiley and frowning faces (Vasiljevic, M., Pechey, R., & Marteau, T).
Another study manipulated both color and labeling information and found these factors can
greatly influence perceptual responses to them (Shankar, M., Levitan, C., Prescott, J., &
Spence, C, 2009). Lastly, another previous study left color out entirely and aimed to discover
if only manipulating the “front-of-pack” nutrition label formats would have an effect on the
healthfulness of peoples food choices (Aschemann-Witzel, J., Grunert, K., Trijp, H.,
Bialkova, S., Raats, M., Hodgkins, C., . . . Koenigstorfer, J.). Overall we see the goal of the
studies is to see if universal symbols could be used to denote healthier foods from non-
healthy foods. Furthermore, it can be observed that all the previous studies research how to
manipulate food labels to aid in making better food choices easier for the consumer. In the
present study, this notion was expounded and was applied to food packaging and whether or
not color would influence the consumer’s perception of the product. The goal of the study
was to determine if red or green food packaging would ultimately sway the consumer’s
perception of the healthiness of the product. Ultimately it was determined that green colored
food packaging would give off the impression that the particular food choice was a healthy
choice and red would denote an unhealthy choice. Through conducting this experiment, this
study could provide valuable information to marketing companies to advertise food in a way
Running head: COLOR AND FOOD PERCEPTION 4
that could be geared towards a certain audience, such as people who are trying to diet.
Furthermore, with a growing obesity epidemic, if food packaging was advertised in such a
way to help people make better food choices, this could aid in the growing issue at hand.
Method
Participants
Participants consisted of twenty two people, fourteen females and eight males ranging
from ages 19 to 22 years old. Participants were obtained through volunteers from Psychology
classes. For participating in the study, participants received lab participation points.
Stimuli and Materials
Materials used consisted of two different passages, a healthy and unhealthy passage. As
well as a power point showing thirty different products, fifteen of which were green and the
other fifteen red. Also, a score sheet was handed out to students for them to rate the overall
health perception of each product, and to answer the questions provided on the power point at the
end of the experiment. All questions and ratings were asked to be answered on a Likert scale
from 1-5, 1 being the least healthy and 5 being the most. Stimuli consisted of the thirty different
products shown to the students, each product had both a red and green image. For example, each
student would view both a red coke and a green coke or a red packaged granola bar and a green
packaged granola bar. Other stimuli consisted of the two passages given to students at the start of
the experiment, to prime them to view the products in a healthy or unhealthy light.
Design and Procedure
In the present study, a 2 X 2 mixed factorial design was implemented. With two different
levels to two different independent variables. The first independent variable, the article,
Running head: COLOR AND FOOD PERCEPTION 5
encompassed a between subjects design. One group experience the healthy article while the other
group experienced the unhealthy article. The second independent variable, the color,
encompassed a within subjects design and all participants experienced both colors. The
dependent variables consisted of the rankings each participant gave on the overall healthiness of
each product and the series of questions answered at the end of the presentation (list of questions
can be viewed in the appendix).
At the start of the experiment, participants were given a passage that was labeled either
healthy or unhealthy. The passages were meant to prime and education the students and provide
them with a certain mindset of the products, either putting them in the mindset to hold a healthy
or unhealthy perspective. After they were finished reading the passage, participants were asked
to give a thumbs up. Once all students finished reading the passage, a scoring sheet was handed
out and the powerpoint was presented. Once displayed, thirty different images were presented of
either a green or red colored food packaging. Between each slide was a twenty second pause in
which participants rated each product on a Likert scale from 1-5, 1 being the least healthy and 5
being the most. The products shown to the students and the articles served as the independent
variables and their ratings of these products served as the dependent variable. After all the
products were shown, participants were given six questions to answer, which they answered on
the back of the scoring sheet.
Results
To interpret the results, the data was put into SPSS and deduced through an ANOVA
mixed factorial design test. It was found that for the perception of healthiness, there was no
interaction between group and color but a significant difference for color, this can be seen in
figure 1, F(1, 20) = .007 p > .05. Thus we failed to reject the null hypothesis. For perception of
Running head: COLOR AND FOOD PERCEPTION 6
unhealthiness, there was a significant difference between groups but no interaction between
group and color, this can be seen in figure 2, F(1, 20) = .197 p >.05. Therefore we failed to reject
the null hypothesis. For perception of tastiness, there was neither a significant difference or
interaction, this can be seen in figure 3, F(1, 20) = 8.62 p < .05 thus we reject the alternate
hypothesis.
Discussion
Overall, it was found that color has a significant effect on how a product is perceived.
This outcome is align with the hypothesis that color will have an effect on the perception of the
healthiness product. However, color does not affect how unhealthy a product is perceived.
Furthermore, it was found that the articles, or prior knowledge, did not affect how healthy a
product was perceived. This finding could suggest that education alone on healthier food choices
could not be the best means in swaying the consumer’s perception of a healthy food product.
Though, the articles did affect how unhealthy the food products were perceived. This outcome
may have been due to the particular articles that were chosen, these articles can be found in the
reference section. Lastly, neither the color nor the articles had any effect on the perception of
flavor. Thus what can be taken from this is the best way to advertise a food product as healthy is
through color. Therefore, given the findings from previous studies, the most efficient way to aid
people in making better food choices is to make the nutrition label front and center and attach to
it universal symbols (such as color and emoticons) to convey the overall healthiness of the
product. Throughout the experiment, there are flaws and limitations that must be noted. The
results could have been different if there was more time to conduct the experiment. The time
constraint created many limitations. If given more time, we could have had more participants,
providing the experiment with more data and thus more accurate and valid results, further
Running head: COLOR AND FOOD PERCEPTION 7
strengthening the argument. Furthermore, the experiment could have been expanded to more
food groups rather than just studying processed foods. Again, due to time constraints, it was
necessary to limit the food choice to only processed foods. However, limiting it to only
processed foods could have had a negative effect on the results because people already knew that
processed foods are not good for you. Therefore, having this common knowledge that processed
foods are bad for you, participants went into the experiment already holding the perception that
the food that was being shown to them is bad for you. If given more time, a way in which this
could have been fixed, or a suggestion for future research, would be to expand the food category
to fresh foods or foods that are produced to be healthy. Having more of a variety of foods
involved in the experiment could have provided the research with stronger results. Moreover,
rather than just showing the participants the food and asking them to rate its overall healthiness,
it would have been better to set up an artificial grocery story and observe the choices made by
the participants. Thus, for future research, it could be more beneficial to ask subjects to choose
certain food products that they think they would buy if they were on a health conscious diet and a
unhealthy diet. Given this autonomy, we could better observe why participants made their
particular selection and how they may actually act in the grocery store rather than in an
experiment. In conclusion, results show that color is the most effective way to sway peoples’
perception of how healthy a particular food product is. Surprisingly, education, or the articles,
did not play a major role in health perception of the products. Moreover, due to time constrains
and not a lot of participants, limitations were present in the study. What would have made this
experiment better would have been more time to create a better study in which we could have
used a wider range of food products and displayed them in such a way that it would have been
Running head: COLOR AND FOOD PERCEPTION 8
completely up to the subject to choose on their own free will certain food products in which they
deemed healthy or unhealthy.
Running head: COLOR AND FOOD PERCEPTION 9
References
Aschemann-Witzel, J., Grunert, K., Trijp, H., Bialkova, S., Raats, M., Hodgkins, C., . . .
Koenigstorfer, J. (n.d.). Effects of nutrition label format and product assortment on the
healthfulness of food choice. Appetite, 63-74.
Balcombe, K., Fraser, I., & Falco, S. (n.d.). Traffic lights and food choice: A choice experiment
examining the relationship between nutritional food labels and price. Food Policy, 211-
220.
Shankar, M., Levitan, C., Prescott, J., & Spence, C. (2009). The Influence of Color and Label
Information on Flavor Perception. Chem. Percept. Chemosensory Perception, 53-58.
Vasiljevic, M., Pechey, R., & Marteau, T. (n.d.). Making food labels social: The impact of colour
of nutritional labels and injunctive norms on perceptions and choice of snack foods.
Appetite, 56-63.
Running head: COLOR AND FOOD PERCEPTION 10
Appendix A
Figure 1.
Running head: COLOR AND FOOD PERCEPTION 11
Appendix B
Figure 2.
Running head: COLOR AND FOOD PERCEPTION 12
Appendix C
Figure 3.
Running head: COLOR AND FOOD PERCEPTION 13
Appendix D
Running head: COLOR AND FOOD PERCEPTION 14
Appendix E