Is plain food packaging plain wrong? Plain packaging increases unhealthy snack intake among males

- Before consumption, plain packaging negatively impacts product and brand attitudes.
- Plain packaging reduces intention to consume an unhealthy snack.
- Plain packaging does not reduce unhealthy snack consumption.
- Males increase unhealthy snack consumption when exposed to the plain packaging.
- After consumption, plain packaging does not influence product and brand attitudes.

Public policy makers have recently recommended deactivating the marketing functions of unhealthy food packaging by enforcing the use of plain food packaging. It is noteworthy, however, that no study to date examined the impact of plain packaging on consumers' perceptions and actual consumption of unhealthy food items. Three studies reported here addressed the latter questions. Study 1 shows that the plain packaging negatively impacts product and brand attitudes as well as intention to consume an unhealthy snack when consumers only evaluate the packaging. Study 2, however, reveals that when they taste the product, the plain packaging increases food consumption among males, while there is no difference for females. As a further insight, Study 2 shows that the plain packaging does not influence consumers' product and brand perceptions anymore following actual food consumption. Study 3 fully replicates Study 2 findings and additionally shows that the plain packaging and the low fat label packaging increase unhealthy snack intake to a similar extent in males and females, respectively.