cheryl
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How heros and villains play a role in your choice of food - KSL
Eating unhealthy foods might not be the consumer's fault, but rather the fault of fictional heroes and villains.
A new study from BYU and the University of Utah finds that people are more likely to pay higher prices for "vice" or indulgent foods, like ice cream, when a superhero is on the packaging.
"If someone wants an ice cream bar and it is packaged with a hero on the label, the kind and benevolent character makes the indulgent product seem less vice," said Tamara Masters, co-author of the study and a Brigham Young University marketing professor. "It helps us provide justification for what we really want anyway."
And when a villain is on the label for "virtue food" or healthy food, people are more likely to pay higher prices for that product than when a hero is on the packaging.
Eating unhealthy foods might not be the consumer's fault, but rather the fault of fictional heroes and villains.
A new study from BYU and the University of Utah finds that people are more likely to pay higher prices for "vice" or indulgent foods, like ice cream, when a superhero is on the packaging.
"If someone wants an ice cream bar and it is packaged with a hero on the label, the kind and benevolent character makes the indulgent product seem less vice," said Tamara Masters, co-author of the study and a Brigham Young University marketing professor. "It helps us provide justification for what we really want anyway."
And when a villain is on the label for "virtue food" or healthy food, people are more likely to pay higher prices for that product than when a hero is on the packaging.