Consumer responses to reduced and regular fat content in different products: effects of gender, involvement and health concern

The present survey was designed to specify the effect of information about regular and reduced fat content on pleasantness ratings which varied in our previous sensory experiments with different foods. A total of 253 consumers rated pleasantness and buying probability of four regular- and reduced-fat foods based on product names. Pleasantness and buying probability of chocolate bars were rated higher with regularthan with reduced-fat information. Reduced-fat information increased pleasantness and buying probability for margarines by those subjects who were concerned about health. Males rated reduced-fat frankfurters and yogurts less pleasant than regular-fat frankfurters. Involvement with each food was related to a high pleasantness and buying probability for a particular food. Overall, previous sensory tests were confirmed as the present data show different effects of reduced-fat information on different products.