Consumer preferences for sugar-sweetened beverages: Evidence from online surveys and laboratory eye-tracking choice experiments

The prevalence of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) consumption is supposed to be one of the most important drivers of nutritional diseases, while little is known about whether sugar labeling could affect consumers’ preferences for low- or sugar-free beverages and what the role of nutritional cognition is in their consumption choice. Based on the data from the online survey and laboratory experiments, this study conducts a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to evaluate consumers’ willingness to pay (WTPs) for SSBs and examine to what extent nutritional cognition could affect their preferences. More importantly, we extend our analysis by incorporating consumers’ visual attention data based on eye-tracking technology into DCE to highlight the underlying physiological mechanisms of consumers’ choices. The results show that consumers exhibit various preferences and WTPs for different attributes of SSBs, including sugar content, functional category, and health claims. Consumers have higher preferences and WTPs for low-sugar and sugar-free beverages compared to SSBs, especially those with higher nutritional cognition who are more likely to choose sugar-free beverages. Evidence from eye-tracking technology suggests that consumers paying higher visual attention to the specific attribute considered are more likely to choose the products with that attribute, and individuals who exhibit higher nutritional cognition are more attentive to low-sugar and sugar-free attributes. This study suggests that consumers’ nutritional cognition and more prominent product design of sugar labeling should be considered in the promotion of low-sugar and sugar-free products.