Effects of Labels and Advertisements on Sugary Drinks Representations, 2020-2022

Many people consume too much sugar from sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and would benefit from drinking water instead. Previous research has shown that taste and reward expectations play a key role in food and drink choices, and that thinking about drinks in terms of consuming and enjoying them (i.e., simulations) predicts desire and intake. Here, we examined whether labels using consumption and reward words increased the appeal of water. In three pre-registered experiments with regular consumers of SSBs (N = 1355), we presented numerous different labels of fictitious water brands with words related to the rewarding consumption experience of water (e.g., “refreshing”, “cool”), with conventional descriptions of water that emphasised its origin and purity, or with brand names only. We assessed anticipated reward of water, desire for water (Exp. 1, 2, 3), simulations of drinking water, and water attractiveness (Exp. 2 and 3). Contrary to our expectations, waters with consumption and reward-focused labels were not rated more favourably than waters with conventional labels, but both were rated higher than brand-only labels. Our findings suggest that the appeal of water cannot easily be increased by emphasising the rewarding consumption experience through language only, possibly because consumers may have a relatively fixed representation of what water tastes and feels like. Future research could test interventions that include stronger sensory information such as images to increase the appeal of water among SSB consumers. This is what was done in Experiments 4-6 of this data collection. Here, we examined whether simulation-enhancing advertisements framing water in terms of consumption and reward changes cognitive representations and increases motivation for a fictitious bottled water. Methods In three pre-registered online experiments, UK participants viewed three advertisements that highlighted either the rewarding consumption experience of water (e.g., “refresh all your senses with this smooth, cool water”), health consequences of drinking water (e.g., “this water takes care of your health”), or control advertisements. We assessed cognitive representations of the bottled water with a Feature Listing task, and we coded the words used as consumption and reward features or positive long-term health consequences features. We assessed motivation by measuring attractiveness of the water (only in Exp. 4), desire to drink it, and willingness to pay for it (WTP). In line with our hypotheses, participants represented the bottled water more in terms of consumption and reward simulation features after viewing simulation-enhancing advertisements, and more in terms of long-term positive health consequences features after viewing health-focused advertisements. There was no direct effect of advertisement condition on motivation. However, significant indirect effects showed that simulation-enhancing advertisements increased desire and WTP through the proportion of consumption and reward features, whereas health-focused advertisements increased motivation through an increase in the proportion of positive long-term health consequences features. The effect through consumption and reward was stronger. These findings are in line with research suggesting that experiencing immediate reward from drinking water underlies intake. Public health interventions should emphasize enjoyment, rather than long-term health benefits.