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Past research has shown that familiar brands can boost consumers' food taste experiences. On the other hand, more recent evidence suggests that the (in)congruity between consumer values and brand symbolism can affect the food taste perception. This study is the first one to integrate these two accounts into one single conceptual framework and to empirically evaluate their relative roles in explaining consumers' brand-induced taste perception. Two experiments involving taste trials (blind vs brand-cued sensory evaluation) were conducted. The first experiment analysed the brand familiarity effect, whereas the second experiment addressed also the taste perception of yogurts with differing brand symbolism amongst food consumers with distinct value orientations to find support for the (in)congruity effects. This research implies that congruity is not responsible for enhancing consumers' taste perception beyond the level that is produced by the brand familiarity. In contrast, the incongruity effect appears capable of neutralising the brand familiarity effect. Therefore, these two explanations may operate independently. More generally, this study speaks for the importance of incorporating consumer value -brand symbolism incongruity mechanism into food consumption studies; even owners' of strong food brands cannot trust the ability of their brands to boost a consumer's taste experience if there is no correspondence between his or her central values and brand symbolism. Thus, an objectively better taste is not necessarily decisive; satisfactory sensory quality can suffice if it is coupled with imaginative and daring brand marketing that delivers unique emotional and functional benefits for well-defined food consumer target segments.

*Health marketplace offers a lucrative business for many companies. However, there is a gap in consumer research in understanding what health as a target of consumption really means to consumers. The subtleties and multiplicity of meanings rural and urban (both younger and older) consumers attach to health in their everyday lives are empirically explored in this article. Findings of a focus group interview-based interpretive analysis are reported. It was found that meanings consumers associate with health are profound and multi-faceted (identification of several health-meaning categories) with some evidence for age-and area-of-residency-related health-meaning differences. The article is concluded by advancing theory-building in consumer research in the form of developing a tentative framework model that can be used to analyze health consumption meanings.

Purpose -This paper aims to investigate how differences in message content and in need for cognition influence consumers' sensory evaluation, product attitudes and purchase intentions in terms of spelt porridge and sea buckthorn juice. Design/methodology/approach -Quantitative research methods were used. Four taste experiments were carried out among Finnish female consumers (n ¼ 129). Findings -Health-related product information had a positive impact on attitude towards and intention to purchase spelt porridge, and safety-related product information had a positive impact on sensory experience of sea buckthorn juice. In addition, in the examination of the need for cognition effects revealed a tendency indicating that spelt porridge and sea buckthorn juice were experienced more positively among individuals high in need for cognition than among individuals low in need for cognition.Research limitations/implications -The instrument of need for cognition is also applicable to investigating actual behavioural elements such as sensory evaluation. Practical implications -This paper has implications for novel food marketing. Originality/value -The findings advance understanding of the roles of subtle message differences and need for cognition in consumers' food product experiences.

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