Role of unfamiliarity and information on consumers’ willingness to try new healthy foods

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of type of unfamiliarity and information on willingness-to-try unfamiliar healthy native foods in males and females. Specifically, the intuition of “healthy = not tasty” is investigated by probing into the effect of high and low taste expectations in the presence and absence of information on health benefits. Defining Type of unfamiliarity of a dish based on its ingredient and format is a unique contribution of this research. This paper uses a 3 * 2 * 2 full factorial experimental design (Type of unfamiliarity * Health Benefits * Taste Expectations; n = 367). ANCOVA was performed to analyse the quantitative data. Findings suggest that the information on health benefits or taste expectations does not have a main effect on willingness to try a new healthy native food, in both males and females. Type of unfamiliarity does not matter for males but females consider it important to try a new food. Males may possibly be inclined towards choosing healthy foods that set high taste expectations; however, providing information on health benefits may lower their interest levels.