Consumer preferences for fuel snacks at the intersection of caregiving stress and gender

Abstract

This research examines consumer response to fuel snacks, a novel conceptualization in the marketing literature. Five studies examine consumer choice and consumption of fuel snacks at the intersection of caregiving stress (e.g., parental status) and gender. The results show that consumers perceive fuel snacks as neither healthy nor unhealthy, thereby highlighting the need to expand the predominant vice-virtue dichotomy of snacks. Parents also consume more snacks than non-parents, and fathers (vs male non-parents) snack differently. More importantly, fathers (vs male non-parents) choose fuel snacks more often. Interestingly, after being primed with an additional acute stressor (reminders of responsibility for others), caregiving stress becomes salient for male non-parents, heightening their preference for fuel snacks. In contrast, mothers (but not female non-parents) required an additional reminder of their responsibility for others to display a significant increase in their preference for fuel snacks. These results provide novel theoretical, managerial, and policy implications.