Two-Part Model Analysis of Artificially Sweetened Soda Purchase Behavior In Terms of the Food Health Stereotypes of “Vice” and “Virtue”

• Published in: Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture Vol. 39; no. 2; pp. 96 - 105
• Main Authors: Eunjin Lee, Junghoon Moon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 한국식생활문화학회 30.04.2024
• Subjects: 생활과학; Consumer behavior; artificially sweetened sodas; vice-virtue; two-part model
• ISSN: 1225-7060; 2288-7148; 1225-7060
• DOI: 10.7318/KJFC/2024.39.2.96

The domestic artificially sweetened beverage market has grown rapidly in recent years, and sodas have led this growth. This study investigated consumer food purchasing behavior of artificially sweetened sodas in terms of the food health stereotypes of “vice” and “virtue”; used to denote unhealthy and healthy food purchases, respectively. The study was conducted using consumer panel data collected by the Rural Development Administration from 2017 to 2020. Given the semi-continuous nature of artificially sweetened soda purchases, Cragg’s two-part model was used for the analysis. The probability of purchasing artificially sweetened sodas increased as expenditure on snacks (a vice food category) increased. However, of those panelists who purchased artificially sweetened sodas, expenditure on artificially sweetened sodas decreased with expenditure on snacks and increased with expenditure on fruits (a virtue food category). These results suggest that vicious-lifestyle consumers choose artificially sweetened sodas when they regulate eating habits, whereas virtuous-lifestyle consumers increase artificially sweetened soda expenditure for hedonic consumption to reduce guilt based on a sensible trade-off effect.