Sweet Skepticism: Health Consciousness and Consumer Resistance to Health-Oriented Gummy Products

Authors

• Raghava Gundala Dr, University of Wisconsin ParksideFollow
• Kathleen McKee, University of Wisconsin ParksideFollow
• Pritosh Kumar, University of Wisconsin-ParksideFollow

Publication Date

2026

Abstract

Health consciousness is usually modeled as a driver of demand for healthier food. This study asks what happens to that relationship when the product itself is indulgent. Survey data were collected from students at a public university in the United States, and a first-stage moderated mediation model (PROCESS Model 7) was estimated on the 231 respondents with complete data. After adjustment for perceived marketing effectiveness and demographic covariates, health consciousness was negatively related to perceptions of health-oriented gummy products and to purchase frequency, although its zero-order correlation with product perception was near zero. Part of the health-consciousness relationship with purchase behavior ran through product perception at average levels of perceived marketing effectiveness. Perceived marketing effectiveness was positively associated with product perceptions on its own. It did not, however, moderate the association between health consciousness and those perceptions, and the index of moderated mediation was not significant. In this indulgent category, then, health consciousness is associated with less favorable product perceptions and with lower purchase frequency for gummy products in general, the opposite of the positive association that the organic-food literature typically reports. Because the moderation was not supported, the study offers no evidence that better-for-you claims offset that negative association. The study offers TPB-informed, exploratory evidence on food choice, documenting this contrast within a single indulgent category and framing product category as a question for future between-category research.