Purpose – This study aims to explore how certain consumer characteristics (dieting status, health motives and food values) together with products
carrying ambivalent health and taste cues (light foods, convenience foods, “functional candies”) shape whether and why health and taste attributes
are perceived as inclusive (“healthy is tasty” and “unhealthy is untasty”) or exclusive (“healthy is untasty” and “unhealthy is tasty”).
Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative methodology not yet applied in examining consumers’ healthiness and tastiness perceptions of
food was employed. It included gathering three separate data sets through both personal and group interviews (N 40).
Findings – Consumers’ dieting status, health motives and food values shape the perception of inclusivity and exclusivity of health and taste of light,
convenience and candy products. Second, there are multiple sources for these perceptions including product type, ingredients, level of processing
and marketing cues. These factors interact to produce a unique consumer understanding of the relationship between health and taste for each single
food product.
Practical implications – To ensure optimal consumer response, food companies and health educators need to understand how different target
groups form their inclusive/exclusive perceptions of health and taste for various foods.
Originality/value – The majority of pre-existing food consumption research supports imply that a good taste and a high degree of healthiness are
incompatible with each other. The findings challenge this view. It appears that it is the “unhealthy is untasty” and “healthy is tasty” perceptions
that predominate in certain consumer groups. A novel conceptual framework for understanding the ambivalence of health and taste perceptions in