Will “moving” food tastes better? Effect of dynamic food image in print advertising on food taste perception

Abstract This study investigated whether the dynamic (vs. still) food image in the print food advertisement affected consumers' judgment of food taste. Through the experimental studies, we found that dynamic (vs. still) food image can improve consumers' perception of food taste (study 1). The influence of dynamic food image on the perception of food taste is related to consumers' affective fluency in information processing (study 2). For consumers with health consumption goal, the dynamic (vs. still) food image can significantly improve the perception of food taste; for consumers with hedonic consumption goal, the difference of taste perception caused by dynamic (vs. still) food image is not significant (study 3). The conclusions can be used to nudge food selection and consumption. Practical Applications Findings of current research reveal that manufacturers and marketers of food products may include dynamic food images into their print advertisements to increase perceived tastiness. More broadly, marketers should fully take the target consumers to whom the foods will be sold into account, as the expected sensory pleasure of consumers with different consumption goals is different. On the basis of our findings, food products aimed at customers focusing on health potential should apply a dynamic food image that generally leads to affective fluency and implies tastiness. In addition, food marketers need to consider the affective experience of consumers during their information processing. Facing the same food, the advertisements making consumers feel pleasant, enjoyable, and interesting will improve consumers' taste perception.