Moderated Mediation of Disgust in the Relationship Between Political Ideology and Food Brand Perceptions

The current study investigates whether political appeals of food brands may impact how consumers perceive the healthiness and tastiness of the companies' products. 455 participants (Psychology students, 71% identified as female) read a short and fictitious newspaper story focused on rightists' values (Papa John's Condition), neutral values (Hershey's Condition), or leftists' values (Ben & Jerry's Condition). The confidence interval for the index of moderated mediation showed that the mediation of disgust in the relationship between U.S. food brand and health risk and taste perceptions was moderated by political ideology. Specifically, leftist participants perceived right-wing brands (Papa John's) as less healthy and more disgusting compared to neutral or left-wing brands. No significant effects were observed among rightist participants. This research provides partial support for the idea that "we eat what we are", as leftist participants perceived comfort food products with incongruent political appeals as worse, primarily through disgust mechanisms.