Empowering healthy food choice: efficacy of health promotion versus disease prevention social marketing interventions in an online study

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the efficacy of health promotion vs disease prevention nutrition messages on in-store signage highlighting the benefits of consuming fruits and vegetables (FVs) among consumers with and without a history of chronic disease from the lens of two theories of consumer psychology, regulatory focus theory and construal level theory.Design/methodology/approachAn online quasi-experiment consisting of a 2 (message valence: promotion vs prevention) x 2 (chronic health condition: present vs absent) x 2 (social distance: self vs family) x 2 (message value: health vs nutrient benefits) between-subjects design was administered to a national panel of 370 US parents (174 with a chronic health condition; 196 with no chronic health condition), aged 21-64 and from low-to-mid socioeconomic households.FindingsSupporting regulatory fit, findings indicated that messaging alignment with consumer health goals (promotion-focused nutrition messages for those free of chronic disease and prevention-focused messages for those living with chronic disease) resulted in greater purchase intent for the promoted healthy foods (FVs). However, the authors did not find support for the proposal based on construal level theory that consumers thinking about themselves (their families) when shopping may respond more positively to prevention- (promotion-) focused nutrition messaging.Originality/valueThis research is novel in recommending the theoretical concepts of regulatory fit and construal level in tailoring social marketing messages in the underexamined area of healthy food choice in grocery stores to maximize societal impact.