Health Halos

My main area of research now looks at health halos, which is the idea that one piece of information on a product package or advertisement can cause a consumer to think that the entire product is healthier than it actually is. Prior research shows that adding a "low fat" label to the front of a package makes a consumer think the product is much healthier than without the label, even if calorie, sugar, sodium, and other nutrition facts still show the product as being extremely unhealthy.

Recently, I have looked at how cause-related marketing efforts (i.e., a brand donating a portion of proceeds to a brand) influences health halo formation. Initial findings show that consumers perceive a cause on a package as endorsing a package making the product appear healthier than it actually is. This includes well known healthy causes such as the American Heart Association, American Red Cross, World Health Organization, and also the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Interestingly, I was listening to Pandora when the ad above appeared for a 5-hour Energy bottle that is donating a portion of the proceeds to the Avon Foundation. Likelihood is great that adding this makes the product appear healthier than it actually is - having less sugar, fewer calories, etc. than the normal 5-hour Energy. Scary? It's true.