Photo Fakery: How Food Images Influence Taste Perception

How Images of Other Consumers Influence Subsequent Taste Perceptions

This article addressed photo manipulation from a very specific perspective on food images. These images are seemingly everywhere, and yet the influence that such images have on consumers outcomes is not well understood. The authors propose that the effect that image exposure has on taste perceptions largely depends on the interaction between the type of food (healthy vs. unhealthy) and whether the image shows the food alone (food image) or the food being consumed by a person (consummatory image). Specifically, the authors show that exposure to consummatory images that have been distorted with tools such as photoshop of unhealthy (vs. healthy) foods, also manipulates taste perception relative to food images. The author proposed that the effect of seeing an image of someone else engaging in unhealthy food habit makes it seem socially acceptable, and therefore the audience will perceive it as such. 

Interestingly, this argument would be useful in reform of fast-food (unhealthy food) commercials. Obesity is an epidemic in the United States. Part of this epidemic directly relates to how the average US citizen interacts with the market. We are a consumerist nation and companies that market and promote unhealthy foods are partially responsible for the consumption and obesity problems prevalent throughout the country. If we can change the norms on food consumption in the United States perhaps we would see a decrease in obesity rates.

Works Cited

Poor, Morgan, Adam Duhachek, and H. Shanker Krishnan. "How Images Of Other Consumers Influence Subsequent Taste Perceptions." Journal Of Marketing 77.6 (2013): 124-139. Business Source Complete. Web. 5 Nov. 2013.