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Opposing effects of sugar-free claims on perceived healthiness and sweetness reduce consumers’ willingness to pay for sugar-free products
Overconsumption of sugar-enriched food is a significant contributor to global obesity. This research investigates whether consumers prefer sugar-free products and their willingness to pay (WTP) for them compared to sugar-laden alternatives. Panidi et al. (2025) hypothesized that consumers would exhibit a higher WTP for sugar-free labeled products, mediated by their perceptions of healthiness, tastiness, and sweetness. Utilizing a Becker-deGroot-Marschak auction format, participants bid on both sugar-containing and sugar-free products while rating their perceived healthiness, sweetness, tastiness, and familiarity.
Structural equation modeling revealed that, controlling for familiarity, sugar-free labels indeed increased WTP due to perceptions of enhanced healthiness. However, this effect was counteracted by a notable decrease in perceived tastiness and sweetness for sugar-free products, ultimately resulting in an insignificant overall effect on WTP. Furthermore, the label’s impact on tastiness was entirely mediated by sweetness perception. These findings suggest that conflicting perceptions hinder the effectiveness of sugar-free claims in influencing healthier consumer choices. [NPID: perception, sugar-free, consumer choices]
Year: 2025
