The shape effect: Round shapes increase consumers' preference for hedonic foods

Abstract Despite being a fundamental food feature, the effect of food shapes has been underexplored. This study demonstrates that giving hedonic foods a round shape increases their desirability, choice probability, and consumption. However, this effect does not apply to utilitarian foods. Such asymmetric effects are attributed to the positive affect elicited by a round shape and not to the food's shape typicality, food knowledge, vividness, or fragility. The positive affect provides affective information and influences consumers' judgments and decisions. Moreover, the effectiveness of giving hedonic foods a round shape is attenuated by consumers' health motivations; that is, the effect holds only for those with low health motivation. Applying statistical methods to data from seven independent studies provided consistent evidence that supports our hypotheses, thereby advancing knowledge of the shape effect, susceptibility of hedonic products, and the affect‐as‐information framework, while also revealing how food shapes affect food consumption.