Opposing effects of sugar-free claims on perceived healthiness and sweetness reduce consumers' willingness to pay for sugar-free products.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Overconsumption of sugar-enriched food remains one of the leading causes of obesity around the world. However, the question of whether consumers are willing to substitute sugar-containing products with their sugar-free analogues remains underexplored. One factor affecting consumers' choices is their willingness to pay for sugar-free products. In the present study, we test the hypothesis that consumers are willing to pay more for sugar-free labeled products compared to their sugar-containing analogues, and that this effect is mediated by the subjective perceptions of product healthiness, tastiness, and sweetness induced by the label.

Methods

In our experiment, participants placed bids for sugar-containing and analogous sugar-free products in a Becker-deGroot-Marsch

SUBMITTER: Panidi K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12616639 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature