Lost in processing? Perceived healthfulness, taste and caloric content of whole and processed organic food

Abstract

The "organic" claim explicitly informs consumers about the food production method. Yet, based on this claim, people often infer unrelated food attributes. The current research examined whether the perceived advantage of organic over conventional food generalizes across different organic food types. Compared to whole organic foods, processed organic foods are less available, familiar and prototypical of the organic food category. In two studies (combined N = 258) we investigated how both organic foods types were perceived in healthfulness, taste and caloric content when compared to their conventional alternatives. Participants evaluated images of both whole (e.g., lettuce) and processed organic food exemplars (e.g., pizza), and reported general evaluations of these food types. The association of these evaluations with individual difference variables - self-reported knowledge and consumption of organic food, and environmental concerns - was also examined. Results showed that organically produced whole foods were perceived as more healthful, tastier and less caloric than those produced conventionally, thus replicating the well-established halo effect of the organic claim in food evaluation. The organic advantage was more pronounced among individuals who reported being more knowledgeable about organic food, consumed it more frequently, and were more environmentally concerned. The advantage of the organic claim for processed foods was less clear. Overall, processed organic (vs. conventional) foods were perceived as tastier, more healthful (Study 1) or equally healthful (Study 2), but also as more caloric. We argue that the features of processed food may modulate the impact of the organic claim, and outline possible research directions to test this assumption. Uncovering the specific conditions in which food claims bias consumer's perceptions and behavior may have important implications for marketing, health and public-policy related fields.

A Profile of the Organic Produce Consumer

“…The paper by Prada et al (2017) found out that respondents perceive original unprocessed organic products as healthier, tastier, and more environmentally friendly than conventional food; however, the difference was not so significant with regard to organic food made from organic produce. We have considered organic food as a whole and we have found out that only a small proportion of respondents consider organic food to be tastier, while a significant number of them appreciate chemical-free environmentally friendly farming.…”

“…Our paper deals with this issue as well -we have been asking our respondents if they consider organic food to be healthier than regular food. The paper by Prada et al (2017) focused on different perception of organic product characteristics and regular traditional food characteristics as well as on the influence of various environmental messages contained in the media on such perception. This influence often represents the cause of distorted organic food quality perception based on irrelevant attributes.…”

Conflicting Messages on Food and Beverage Packages: Front-of-Package Nutritional Labeling, Health and Nutrition Claims in Brazil

“…Nonetheless, an "eco-friendly" or "organic" claim can lure people into believing it is healthier than an alternative, when this may not be true [48]. Consumers can infer proprieties that are unrelated to the production method, perceiving organic foods as healthier, tastier, and less caloric than those produced conventionally [49]. Perceived healthfulness of a food product and use of food labeling, in turn, influences food intake [50].…”

Fifty shades of food: The influence of package color saturation on health and taste in consumer judgments

“…Packaged products as well as entail visual cues indicating both healthiness and tastiness. For example, cues related to naturalness have been found to signal good taste as well as superior healthiness to consumers (Lunardo & Saintives, ; Prada, Garrido, & Rodrigues, ). Another visual cue indicating both a product's healthiness and tastiness is the attractiveness of the package design.…”