Busch School Marketing Professor Beatriz Bonetti, along with her co-authors at Virginia Tech, Shreyans Goenka and Frank May, recently published their research on "The effect of firm size on perceived product healthiness."
The research investigates the impact of firm size on consumers' perceptions of product healthiness in the health food industry. The authors propose that products from smaller firms are perceived as healthier because smaller firms are viewed as more moral, and these moral perceptions influence health perceptions.
The first study demonstrates that products from smaller firms are indeed perceived as healthier than those from larger firms. The second study provides evidence of mediation through moral perceptions. The third study shows that the health advantage of smaller firms diminishes when larger firms emphasize Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Additionally, an analysis of Yelp reviews (Study 4) reveals that consumers are more likely to mention positive health-related words for a health-oriented restaurant chain perceived as smaller. Finally, a Facebook experiment (Study 5) shows that health-conscious consumers are more receptive to advertisements from smaller firms.
The research makes a significant contribution by exploring how firm size influences product health perceptions, demonstrating the underlying mechanism involving moral perceptions. It resolves conflicting findings in previous research and extends our understanding of the interaction between firm size, morality, and product health perceptions. Practically, the research suggests that large health-focused firms may benefit from emphasizing their moral initiatives to counter the perception that smaller firms offer healthier products. This information is valuable for managers seeking to promote health-focused products in a market where both large and small health food brands coexist.