Abstract
The worldwide obesity epidemic has prompted governments, NGO's, and companies to explore the use of advertising to promote healthy eating habits. The effect of product or issue involvement often moderates the effects of advertising on brand image. Advertising that involves a sensitive topic, namely a person's weight, runs the risk of a consumer backlash that may tarnish a brand's image. Previous research by the authors who investigated message structure in advertising to promote healthy eating found there was no significant difference between one-sided and two-sided messages on Attitude to the Ad (Aad) and Attitude to the Brand (Ab). The present study assesses the effect of pre-existing eating habits on attitudes toward healthy eating after exposure to advertising. The research offers evidence that advertising disclosure can promote healthier eating. However, the effects are not straightforward. When the information confirms previous perceptions, consumers will pay more attention to it. However, consumers who have a healthy life style may not be as positively affected by the information as those whose lifestyle is less healthy and have an interest in improving it.
Highlights
Obesity remains an intractable problem in the developed world
The analysis revealed that some items cross-loaded on two or more factors on each of the three variables, Attitude to the Ad (Aad) (2 factors), Attitude to the Brand (Ab) (2 factors), and purchase intention (PI) (3 factors)
There was no significant effect of fast food on Aad, Ab, or PI so none of the hypotheses H1a, H1a, or H1c were confirmed (Table 1)
Summary
Obesity remains an intractable problem in the developed world. Advertising is often blamed for the problem because food advertisers have promoted their products’ taste and convenience, which may sacrifice healthiness. ‘Fast food’ has become synonymous with unhealthy diets and their negative effect on consumers. The rate of obesity in America has doubled in the last forty years. The. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) [1] from 1960-1962, reported that 31.5 % of Americans age 20 and over were overweight or obese. In the later 2007-08 NHANES study, 68.3 % of Americans age 20 and over were overweight or obese
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