The Healthy = Tasty Intuition Seems to Prevail in Japan

Abstract

Obesity and overweight have drastically increased in developed countries, notably due to the widespread belief that unhealthy foods taste better than healthy ones. In this study, we investigated what kind of relationship do Japanese people hold between health and taste, using a classic IAT paradigm. Results indicate that participants hold the opposite implicit intuition, that is healthy = tasty. This intuition was stronger when pictures of universal (vs. domestic) foods were used, suggesting different perception of the two cuisines. These results shed new lights on the use of IAT with food, and may contribute to public health cares and to the food industry.