A long-horned bull sticks out his tongue on Tuesday morning.
Photo by Kurt Hildebrand.
Consumers may not realize they are being impacted by a health halo effect, which creates false perceptions of whether a certain food product is healthy or unhealthy based on factors like keywords used on the product’s labeling or in marketing campaigns.
Researchers at the University of Nevada, Reno, Utah State University and Colorado State University published research regarding plant-based meat alternative products to help consumers to avoid misconceptions caused by the health halo effect when making choices about what foods to purchase in the grocery store and at restaurants.
“You have all these meat substitute products on the shelves already, but Beyond Meat and Impossible Meat were the first products to imitate actual meat and came to market with the explicit promotion of being similar to a traditional beef burger; essentially, they claim they are the ‘meat without the meat’ for their consumers,” Bret Leary, one of the researchers on the study and an associate professor of marketing in the College of Business, said. “From this type of promotion strategy, they’re contributing to this health halo by convincing their customers it’s a healthier option than actual meat when in reality, it’s not.”
This concept of the health halo plays a significant role in the success of some of the largest companies because consumers purchase items assuming they are healthier than they actually are, disregarding important nutrient factors, such as fat, sodium and calorie content.
“Ultimately, we want to provide this information to the public so that consumers know what they might be unintentionally acting upon; we want consumers, as well as companies, to be more knowledgeable,” Leary said. “There is a significant imbalance of information provided to consumers, and often, customers won’t always compare labels and instead make intuitive decisions that are based upon previous assumptions.”
In addition to customers’ lack of awareness of the nutritional value of alternative meat products on the shelves of supermarkets, the health halo concept also impacts popular chain restaurants. According to the Food and Drug Association’s official policies, chain restaurants and retail food establishments that have obtained 20 or more separate locations are legally obligated to provide customers with the nutritional value and calorie content of every product they serve at every location. Leary said this requirement did not change people’s perceptions of which products were healthier even if calorie count and nutritional value is the same.
To combat the health halo effect, the researchers recommended consumers evaluate alternative meat health claims and compare them to the scientific evidence before making choices about their food consumption. They also suggested that waitstaff at restaurants inform their customers of the nutrition values and calorie counts of items they are ordering off the menu.
