Effects of Label and Short Video Communication on Symbolic Perceptions of a Cereal Bar With a Low‐Familiarity Ingredient

ABSTRACT This study examined how two communication modalities, a regulatory‐style product label and a short promotional vídeo, shape symbolic perceptions, social representations, and consumer evaluations of a cereal bar formulated with Jerusalem artichoke, a low‐familiarity functional ingredient. A within‐subject exploratory design involved 195 Brazilian consumers, who evaluated both stimuli in randomized order under ecologically valid conditions. The label followed Brazilian food‐labeling regulations, while the video used a narrative with health, naturalness, and sensory cues. Free word associations were analyzed via prototypical analysis and polarity indices, and perceptual attributes were compared using paired Wilcoxon tests and repeated‐measures MANOVA. The video increased perceived healthiness and expected flavor, eliciting affective terms, whereas the label prompted cognitively anchored representations. Trust and sustainability were stable, and convergent results indicate modality affects intensity, not judgment hierarchy overall.