Current Issue Summary
March 2024 (Vol. 64, Issue 1)
The Impact of Fusion Metaphors in Health Appeals on Consumer Attitudes: Tasty but Unhealthy, Healthy but Not Tasty — Duality Considerations in Health Messaging
If an ad for carrots shows them packaged in a French fries carton, will the fries metaphor make the carrots appear tastier? What happens when fries appear placed in a cigarette package? In this article, Olivia Petit (KEDGE Business School Marseille Luminy) and Tobias Otterbring (University of Agder) explore the impact of using visual fusion metaphors in health messaging. Across two experiments, the authors demonstrate such metaphors’ power by revealing the complex way they can both enhance and diminish positive attitudes toward products, such as cigarettes juxtaposed with French fries. “Although these metaphors are meant to highlight the negative attributes of a target product, such as tasty but unhealthy food, they can inadvertently make the source product, such as a pack of cigarettes, appear more appealing,” the authors warn.
Among the takeaways:
- “Fusion metaphors can both enhance and diminish favorable attitudes toward products”; managers should exercise caution in their use for health campaigns.
- To influence consumer attitudes effectively, fusion metaphors should consider the attributes of the target product (e.g., carrots as the target in the French fries carton).
- “When aiming to create a more negative perception of a product by highlighting its detrimental health effects, ensure that the target product is primarily evaluated on the basis of unhealthy attributes.
- “When aiming to create a more positive perception of a product by highlighting its pleasant taste, ensure that the target product is primarily evaluated on the basis of tasty attributes.”