Is there also a hidden health cue in the background? The impact of natural imagery on product attitude in food marketing

Prior studies have primarily concentrated on the role of food imagery, which depicts the food itself or its ingredients, in conveying food messages, with less emphasis on background imagery. Background imagery, which often carries symbolic or metaphorical meanings through the depiction of food-related and non-food-related subjects, also serves as a vital medium for communicating food messages. This study investigates the role of natural imagery, a type of background imagery, in transmitting health-related attributes of food. This study employed an implicit association test (IAT) alongside three scenario experiments. The findings demonstrate that natural imagery triggers a health association with food, leading to a favorable product attitude, referred to as the “health metaphor effect.” Subsequently, the boundary conditions for this effect were examined, revealing its presence in healthy product categories as opposed to unhealthy ones. Building upon these findings, the study also assessed the influence of food imagery in food visuals on the role of natural imagery. The result indicates that, for healthy foods, the health metaphor effect is more pronounced when the food imagery is depicted in a processed (vs. raw) state.