Influence of container color on food ratings and choices: Evidence from a desktop VR study

Considering the benefits of a large-scale shift towards a more plant-based diet, we conducted an experimental study to investigate how people’s food ratings and choices might be influenced by the color of the container in which foods were served. Fifty healthy Chinese young adults were asked to choose a more desirable dish from a two-dish choice set in a virtual restaurant, followed by an online food rating task. The results revealed that the meat dishes were chosen more often and rated as being more likable and desirable than the vegetable dishes. Despite such preference for the meat dishes over the vegetable dishes, the participants chose more vegetable dishes served in the blue containers when the meat dishes were served in the red containers. These findings provide novel empirical evidence regarding how a combination of red- and blue-colored containers can influence people’s food choices, which has implications in the practice of nudging consumers towards more plant-based diets via skillfully designing contextual cues.