A personalized value-based justification in food swaps to stimulate healthy online food choices

Food swap strategies offer consumers healthier alternatives, yet effectiveness in past studies varies and reasons for observed low acceptance rates remain unclear. This study examines whether and how (personalized) justifications for healthy food swaps affect consumer acceptance (N = 871). We assume that consumers want relevant justifications for why a food swap is offered and that aligning food swaps with individual preferences enhances the perceived relevance. Given uncertainties on consumers’ willingness to share personal data for tailored recommendations in online grocery shopping, this study also explores consumers’ willingness to disclose such information to retailers (N = 500). Our findings show that providing a food swap justification, i.e. explaining the rationale behind healthy food recommendations, boosts the acceptance and perceived relevance of the food swap while reducing intrusiveness perceptions. Personalized justifications motivate consumers to switch to healthier options, provided that retailers balance personal relevance and perceived intrusiveness when requesting personal information to tailor advice. Trial registration This study was pre-registered at OSF on 22-06-2023 (https://osf.io/5vg64).