The Effect of Disease Salience on the Preference of Multi-Serving Packaging

Abstract

Humans have developed a set of prevention-focused psychological responses to detect and avoid health-related threats. Such set of psychological responses called the "behavioral immune system" is known to affect evaluations of the self as well as others

however, studies on the effect of the system in consumption context have been limited. Having witnessed consumption behavior changes during the MERS CoV outbreak in South Korea in 2015, I argue that disease salience changes consumers' attitudes towards products in different packaging conditions such as packaging sizes. Through a study, I show that consumers prefer larger, multi-serving packages less than single-serving packages when an infectious disease becomes salient.