Dynamic or static? The effect of food imagery on menus on perceived food energy and purchase intention

Yingying Du and Xingyuan Wang

Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 2024, vol. 81, issue C

Abstract: Food menus frequently employ dynamic imagery to show their offerings, yet a consensus regarding its impact on perceived food attributes and purchase intentions remains elusive. Drawing on stimulus-organism-response theory, we constructed a theoretical framework in which dynamic imagery on food menus influences purchase intention through food attribute evaluation. In addition, based on the conceptual metaphor theory, we proposed that dynamic imagery on food menus may influence customers’ attribute evaluations of food energy. This study conducted four experiments, revealing that the use of dynamic imagery to display food on a menu led customers to perceive the food as having a higher energy level. This effect was observed in high-energy-density foods but not in low-energy-density foods. And this effect is also absent when the nutritional information of the food on the menu is salient. In addition, we found that customers’ dietary goals moderated the effect of dynamic imagery on purchase intention through perceived food energy. When customers had functional and hedonic goals (self-controlled goals), the need for food energy was higher (lower), and dynamic imagery elicited higher (lower) purchase intentions.

Keywords: Dynamic imagery; Menu design; Perceived food energy; Purchase intention; Food type; Nutritional information (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:joreco:v:81:y:2024:i:c:s0969698924003382

DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2024.104042

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