Healthy Taste of High Status: Signaling Status at Restaurants

Abstract

Despite the prevalence of a common belief associating healthy eating with high status, the effect of such an intuitive association on consumer behavior remains unexamined. To fill this void, this research explores status signaling in a restaurant context. Two studies were conducted to examine the impact of consumers’ need for status on their preferences for healthy dining options. Results from Study 1 show that need for status has a positive effect on consumer preferences for a restaurant with a healthy (vs. less healthy) menu. These results indicate that although dining out can be a means to convey high status, such a symbolic role is limited to restaurants with healthy (vs. less healthy) options. Results from Study 2 demonstrate that need for status has a positive effect on anticipated satisfaction with healthy dining options when consumers’ choice is unconstrained (vs. constrained). These results indicate that restaurants offering healthy foods can inadvertently lose their status-signaling value by limiting consumers’ freedom of choice. This research adds to the hospitality literature by illuminating an unexamined facilitator of healthy dining: need for status. It also extends the literature by demonstrating that consumers may derive status-signaling value not only from luxury goods but also from more mundane hospitality experiences. Additional theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Healthy, But Say It Out Loud? The Messaging Effect on Restaurants’ Healthy Food Promotion

“…It is not only important to provide healthy options on the menu but also necessary to strategically communicate the healthfulness status to prevent adversity. As such, this research expands the horizon of healthy dining literature through menu tactics (e.g., Shin & Mattila, 2020; Xu & Jeong, 2018).…”

“…Third, due to distinct dining environments and consumer needs, the messaging effect may differ by restaurant type. For example, fine dining restaurants often symbolize status consumption and recent research has revealed the status−signaling role of healthy choices (e.g., Shin & Mattila, 2020). As such, levels of psychological reactance toward an explicit message may be mitigated in a fine-dining context.…”

Occurrence of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria in Fish and Seafood from Slovak Market

“…Gentamicin, ciprofloxacin and vancomycin resistance were not detected. Poke bowls are becoming more popular, as it represents a combination of the health benefits of fish, salad and vegetables, complemented by a tasty sauce [35]. However, this dish contains raw fish, which may still represent microbiological risk for the consumer due to presence of pathogenic or potential pathogenic bacteria.…”

Use of Health-Promoting Food and Supplements in Swiss Children

“…It is well known that a lower socioeconomic position is associated with more exposure to unhealthy food, which might lead to obesity and a shorter life expectancy [ 31 ]. People with a higher socioeconomic background do not only have access to a more healthy, balanced diet, but the consumer of such a diet is also perceived by other people as generally successful in life [ 32 ]. In other words, our diet can be showcased as a status symbol [ 33 , 34 ]—food as classism.…”