Australasian Marketing Journal 27 (2019) 179–186

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Australasian Marketing Journal

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ausmj

Marketing the healthiness of sports drinks: From physiological to

cognitive based benefits
Patrick van Esch a,∗, Casey Lynn Gadsby b
a
School of Business, Western Sydney University, Parramatta, NSW 2150, Australia
b
Moravian College, Bethlehem, PA 18018, United States

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: By the year 2020, the sports drinks segment in the global beverage industry is expected to reach US$6B.
Received 10 February 2019 In an alternate segment, bottled water is the main competitor. Sports drinks marketing continues to fo-
Revised 9 April 2019
cus on unproven benefits such as attention, increased performance during sport, increased energy and
Accepted 15 April 2019
stamina. Both categories claim their product is the healthier alternative to the other. Yet there has been
Available online 14 May 2019
limited, if any, research on the effects of the perceived taste of sports drinks, familiarity with the brand,
Keywords: nutrition involvement and colour cue perceptions on sports drink consumption. Study 1 explored the per-
Sports drinks ceived healthiness of sports drinks based on colour cues. The results showed that based on colour alone,
Beverages clear coloured sports drinks are considered the healthiest. Study 2 explored dual-stage moderated medi-
Perceived taste ation effects of familiarity with the brand, nutrition involvement and clear colour on the perceived taste
Nutrition involvement and sports drink consumption relationship. The results showed that if sports drinks are perceived to be
Familiarity with the brand
flavourful, delicious and good tasting; then consumers’ are more likely to consume greater quantities of
Consumption
it. Furthermore, familiarity with the brand mediates the relationship between perceived taste and sports
drink consumption. Moreover, interaction effects of nutrition involvement and clear colour, results in a
dual stage moderated mediation which has positive, direct and indirect effects on sports drink consump-
tion. This study will assist marketers to shift their marketing tactics in terms of the way they promote
the healthiness of sports drinks, from the physiological benefits to more cognitive based benefits.
© 2019 Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

c h i n e s e a b s t r a c t

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© 2019 Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction keting continues to focus on unproven benefits such as attention,

healthiness, increased performance during sport, increased energy
In the global beverage industry and the war for market share, and stamina in an attempt to increase their market share of the
industry experts expect that the sports drinks segment will be projected US$280B bottled water industry (Globe Newswire, 2017).
worth US$6B by the year 2020 (Reuters, 2017). Sports drink mar- There has been a long association with the influence of health
perceptions and colour on beverage selection, yet there has been
∗
limited research on consumers’ health perceptions on the available
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: p.vanesch@westernsydney.edu.au (P. van Esch),
selection of different coloured sports drinks. Moreover, in relation
gadsbyc@moravian.edu (C.L. Gadsby). to sports drinks, there is limited research on the influence that

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ausmj.2019.04.001
1441-3582/© 2019 Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
180 P. van Esch and C.L. Gadsby / Australasian Marketing Journal 27 (2019) 179–186
perceived taste has on their consumption, and whether familiar-
ity with the brand alters such perceptions, and ultimately product
use decisions.
Whilst sports drink and water manufacturers battle for market
share by promoting their products as the superior source of hydra-
tion, current trends see these products mostly marketed for their
physiological benefits (e.g. alertness, performance, stamina, rehy-
dration). Proving such physiological benefits may not always be
easy, rather an alternate way, which may not require such proof,
may be to shift the marketing of those products to more cogni-
tive based benefits (e.g. importance, knowledge, familiarity, per-
ception, colour cue judgements; Erevelles et al., 2016; Hernandez
et al., 2015).
Therefore, it is important for marketers to understand if colour
influences the perceived healthiness of sports drinks and if so,
which colour precisely.
Furthermore, marketers need to understand the role of con-
sumers’ nutrition involvement, which is the importance placed on
eating healthy, but also the amount of attention devoted to nutri-
tional information and how that influences brand familiarity and
sports drink consumption. Moreover, if colour influences the per-
ceived healthiness of sports drinks, marketers need to understand
if that also has an influencing effect on the consumers’ nutrition
involvement, brand familiarity and product consumption.
The contribution of this paper is two-fold. First, it shows that
perceived taste increases sports drink consumption and that when
consumers are more familiar with the sports drink brand, the con-
sumption of those drinks also increases. Second, consumer nutri-
tion involvement and the colour of the sports drink (e.g. clear
colour) yielded results that both increase consumers’ familiarity
with the brand and the consumption of sports drinks respectively.
This paper is organised as follows: first, a modest overview of
sports drink consumption. Second, two studies: Study 1 explores
consumers’ perceived healthiness of different coloured sports
drinks. Study 2 explores dual-stage moderated mediation effects of
familiarity with the brand (mediator), nutrition involvement (1st
stage moderator) and clear colour (2nd stage moderator) on the
perceived taste (independent variable) and sports drink consump-
tion (dependent variable) relationship. Third, a general discussion
of additional benefits followed by, limitations and recommenda-
tions for future research.
2. Theoretical background
2.1. Sports drink consumption
The rapid rise in consumption of sports drinks derives from
the pairing of creative marketing with science (Kleinman, 2003).
Moreover, their popularity has propelled due to young consumers
and clever marketing that plays on associations with youth cul-
ture, performance, power and health (Tinson et al., 2017). As a
consequence, the business of “hydration” has grown exponen-
tially (Oddy and O’Sullivan, 2009). Whilst water is often mar-
keted to sporting enthusiasts, sports drinks (e.g. carbohydrate-
electrolyte) are marketed as the preferred rehydration source for
serious athletes and sporting professionals (Von Duvillard et al.,
2008). This is partly promoted by quasi-scientific endorsements
of sports drinks (Kreider et al., 2010; Rehrer, 2001), and partly
by beverage manufacturers widespread marketing campaigns. Cur-
rently, sports drinks are widely consumed and are a multi-billion-
dollar segment of the beverage industry (Kalman et al., 2012).
Aroma, bottle shape, colour of the fluid, nutritional information,
mouth-feel and taste, affect the sports drink consumption of sports
drinks (Coombes, 2005). When compared to water, consumers find
sports drinks more appealing and consider them more beneficial
in terms of electrolytes, minerals, and physical performance (Ilyas
et al., 2018; Karelis et al., 2010). Recent reports indicate that reg-
ular sports drinks consumption has significant positive relation-
ships with cigarette use, increased daily intake of sugar-sweetened
soft drinks, fruit drinks and 100% fruit juice, other beverage in-
take, media use, video game use and lower occurrences of eat-
ing breakfast (Larson et al., 2014). Furthermore, the Natural Hydra-
tion Council suggests that one in four adults drink sports drinks
at work, which amounts to unnecessary calorie consumption. Con-
versely, the sports drinks industry promotes the product as a supe-
rior source of hydration (Cohen, 2012; Natural Hydration Council,
2012; McCartney, 2011).
3. Hypothesis development
3.1. Perceived taste
In the United States alone, the sports drinks industry is worth
$US2+ Billion a year (Heckman et al., 2010). In such a com-
petitive and lucrative industry, selecting a sports drink can be
an overwhelming task for consumers due to their differences in
carbohydrates and electrolytes (Coombes and Hamilton, 20 0 0).
Sports drinks consumption is widespread and continues to grow
for various reasons, including its taste (Kourouniotis et al., 2016;
Thibodeau and Pickering, 2017), pleasing persona (Ali et al., 2011;
Maughan, and Shirreffs, 1997), thirst quenching (O’Dea, 2003), ex-
tra energy to improve sports performance (Schneider and Ben-
jamin, 2011), compensation for nutrient and fluid loss (Murray and
Stofan, 2001), and sweetness (Kim et al., 2014; Sartor et al., 2011).
Healthiness is considered the opposite of tastiness, as con-
sumers are more likely to have negative hedonic responses to
drinks labelled “healthy.” Moreover, labelling sports drinks as “low-
fat,” “low-sugar,” and “no-artificial-flavours” reduces perceived
pleasantness (Redondo et al., 2014; Wardle and Huon, 20 0 0). Prior
research indicates that specific associations of colour with taste,
influence the consumption of coloured beverages (Genschow et al.,
2012). In light of these considerations, we formulate our first hy-
pothesis as follows:
H1. The perceived taste of sports drinks will positively influence
the consumption of those drinks.
3.2. Mediating effect – familiarity with the brand
When it comes to product choice, often, consumers will use a
brand as a proxy for product-related characteristics, for example,
convenience, country of origin, health-promoting properties, qual-
ity and taste, rather than using objective assessments based on
multiple attributes (Bui et al., 2015; Chrysochou, 2010). In routine
decision making and judgment, consumers will often use heuristics
(i.e. cognitive rules of thumb) as principles to reduce task complex-
ity, save time, and navigate the myriad of simple decisions required
to be made daily in familiar settings (McCammon, 2003; Wray,
2010). The familiarity heuristic is the foundation of brand famil-
iarity as it influences consumer processing by relying on capturing
their associations, experiences, and knowledge structures that are
stored in memory (Campbell and Keller, 2003; Cian et al., 2015;
Mantonakis et al., 2017).
Consumer familiarity with the brand occurs due to the many
associations the consumer holds. For example, advertising inten-
sity (Keller, 2016), number of product usage experiences (Yoo
et al., 20 0 0), previous marketing communications exposure
(Campbell and Keller, 2003), imagery and performance associa-
tions (Kemp et al., 2012), purchase consideration (Huang and Lu,
2016), brand credibility (Lyons and Wien, 2018), and brand quality
(Keller and Lehmann, 2006). This familiarity with the brand leads
to greater brand recall (Brennan and Babin, 2004), which generates
 P. van Esch and C.L. Gadsby / Australasian Marketing Journal 27 (2019) 179–186
more favourable brand attitudes and consumer responses com-
pared with unfamiliar brands (Bui et al., 2015; Delgado-Ballester
et al., 2012). We accordingly formulated our second hypothesis as
follows:
H2. Familiarity with sports drinks will mediate the relationship
between their perceived taste and the consumption of those
drinks.
3.3. Moderation effect – nutrition involvement
Consumers generally have high levels of awareness of bever-
ages and their associated health effects. However, dominant fac-
tors affecting consumption patterns include accessibility, advertis-
ing, health control practices, perceived sugar content, and taste
(Battram et al., 2016). There is a need to improve the content in-
formation of nutritional beverage quality to influence consump-
tion behaviour (Ares et al., 2009). Paradoxically, consumers review
the ingredients listed on the product, and yet, are unable to asso-
ciate clearly the nominated nutrients with a (un)healthy diet (Kim
et al., 2009). Recent studies highlight health claims are more rele-
vant than nutrition claims because consumers are more receptive
to receiving positive information rather than having to work out
what the information means for themselves (Verbeke et al., 2009).
Jacquier et al. (2012) suggest that the effects of health claims
and nutrition information placed on drink labels indicate that
when favourable claims are exhibited, consumers have positive at-
titudes toward the product, nutrition and purchase intent (Kozup
et al., 2003). We hypothesise the following:
H3. Consumer nutrition involvement will have a positive first stage
moderating effect on the mediated model, resulting in a moderated
mediation.
3.4. Moderation effect – clear colour
As a point of differentiation, in the early 1990s, a number
of product categories released clear/transparent versions to signal
light, natural and purity (e.g. beer, colas, deodorant, dishwashing
detergents and fuel). However, the proliferation of clear products
distorted the intent of those original attributes (Keller et al., 2002).
Research indicates that consumers perceive darker coloured
beverages to be higher in calories, which affects perceptions of
both healthiness and taste (Mai et al., 2016). Mead and Richerson
(2018) suggest that consumers infer the attributes of sports drinks
based on colour cues, yet in terms of colour saturation, the specific
influence remains unknown.
The literature is divided as to the effect of the clear colour
on perceived flavour, sweetness, and overall likelihood of sports
drink selection. Tuorila-Ollikainen et al. (1984) reported no effect
of clear colour on overall likeability of beverages, whilst Nam et al.
(2017) reported in a sensory evaluation study that clear beverages
indicated an amiability for the product. Moreover, Bayarri et al.
(2001) reported darker-coloured beverages to have intense flavours
when compared to their colourless counterparts, and more specif-
ically, colour enhances sweetness perceptions in orange-flavoured
beverages and perceived flavour intensity for berry, kiwi, orange,
and peach flavoured beverages. However, the effects were depen-
dent upon brand familiarity and consumer expectations (Spence
et al., 2010). Lastly, we hypothesise the following:
H4. Clear colour will have a positive second stage moderating ef-
fect on the moderated mediation model (perceived taste, nutrition
involvement, familiarity with the brand, sports drink consump-
tion), resulting in a dual stage moderated mediation.
181
Familiarity
with the
Nutrition Brand
Clear Colour
Involvement
H3 H2 H4
A B
Perceived C’ Sports Drink
Taste H1; C Consumption
Fig. 1. Conceptual framework.
4. Methodology
4.1. Study 1
Preliminary in nature, we employed a cross-sectional design
study where participants (n = 320; female = 46.3%; 35–44 years
old = 41.1%; single = 47.4%; Caucasian = 37.3%; bachelor’s de-
gree = 37.4%), were recruited through an online crowdsourcing
platform (Smith et al., 2016), were shown pictures of sports drink
bottles, with the label removed and where the liquid inside was
a different colour (i.e. red, blue, orange, green, yellow, purple,
clear – the current colours of sports drinks). The order in which
the seven colours was presented to the respondents was ran-
domised to avoid order bias. All participants were instructed to
familiarise themselves with the pictures and subsequently asked
to rate the perceived healthiness of each different coloured sports
drink. Based on reported differences in perceived healthiness
(t-value = 48.21, p < .001), clear coloured sports drinks were per-
ceived the healthiest and purple coloured sports drinks were con-
sidered the least healthy. Prior research suggests that consumers
perceive dark colours as calorically heavy, which affects their per-
ceptions of both taste and healthiness (Mai et al., 2016; Mead and
Richerson, 2018). Based on these findings, clear colour was selected
for the current study.
4.2. Study 2
The aim of this study was to explore dual-stage moderated
mediation effects of familiarity with the brand (mediator), nu-
trition involvement (1st stage moderator) and clear colour (2nd
stage moderator) on the perceived taste (independent variable)
and sports drink consumption (dependent variable) relationship
(Fig. 1).
Dual stage moderated mediation models are theorised substan-
tively in the literature (Armstrong et al., 2014; Laran et al., 2011;
Li et al., 2015). Moreover, it will show the relationship between
“clear colour” and the indirect effect of “perceived taste” as a
linear function of “nutrition involvement.” This linear function is
the index of conditional moderated mediation by “clear colour”
and will quantify the relationship between “clear colour” and the
size of the indirect effect of “perceived taste” conditioned on “nu-
trition involvement.” Finally, it will demonstrate the indices of
conditional moderated mediation share (Perceived taste × Nutrition
involvement → Familiarity with the brand) × (Familiarity with the
brand × Clear colour → Sports drink consumption) as the weight
for the second moderator (e.g. clear colour). This will be the in-
dex of dual moderated mediation for this model and will quantify
the rate of change in the moderation by “nutrition involvement” of
the indirect effect of “perceived taste” as “clear colour” changes, as
well as the rate of change in the moderation by “clear colour” of
the indirect effect of “perceived taste” as “nutrition involvement”
changes (Hayes, 2018).
182 P. van Esch and C.L. Gadsby / Australasian Marketing Journal 27 (2019) 179–186

Table 1
Established scales.

Sports drink consumption (Hamilton et al., 2010) (1 = Rarely; 7 = Frequently)

How frequently do you use sports drinks relative to others who buy the product
How often do you consume sports drinks
How much do you use sports drinks
Perceived taste (Poor et al., 2013)
How do sports drinks taste (1 = Flavourless; 9 = Flavourful)
How do sports drinks taste (1 = Not at all delicious; 9 = Very delicious)
How do sports drinks taste (1 = Bad taste; 9 = Good taste)
Familiarity with the brand (Martin et al., 2005) (1 = Not at all familiar; 7 = Very familiar)
How familiar are you with sports drinks
How familiar are you with the types of retail stores that carry sports drinks
How familiar are you with the healthiness of sports drinks
How familiar are you with sports drinks in general
How much experience do you have with sports drinks
How much experience do you have with the healthiness of sports drinks in general
Nutrition involvement (Chandon and Wansink, 2007) (1= Not at all; 5 = Very much)
I watch what I eat
I pay attention to what I eat
I pay attention to how much I eat
Eating healthy is important to me
Nutritional information influences me
Is nutritional information readily available on sports drinks
Do you pay attention to the nutritional information available on sports drinks
Does the nutritional information influence your selection
Clear colour (Westbrook, 1980) (1 = Not at all healthy; 10 = Very healthy)
Overall, how healthy are clear coloured sports drinks

4.3. Data collection 5.1. Main effect

We employed a cross-sectional design in which participants
(n = 348; male = 52.6%; 25–34 years old = 49.1%; mar-
ried = 47.4%; Caucasian = 51.4%; bachelor’s degree = 50.3%) were
recruited through an online crowdsourcing platform (Hauser and
Schwarz, 2016). Participants received USD$0.20 for successfully
completing the survey, a reasonable rate of pay compared to simi-
lar survey tasks (Casler et al., 2013).
In support of H1, we found a positive effect on the relationship
between perceived taste and sports drink consumption (β = 0.20,
p < .01). Sports drink manufacturers include pleasant tastes into
their drinks because palatable intake is known to enhance fluid
intake (Minehan et al., 2002). Simply put, if sports drinks are per-
ceived to be flavourful, delicious and good tasting; then consumers’
are more likely to consume greater quantities of it.

5.2. Mediating effect – familiarity with the brand

4.4. Measures
To investigate the role of familiarity with the brand in the pro-
This study used established scale items, consisting of such mea-
cess that links perceived taste and sports drink consumption, sep-
sures as sports drink consumption and comprised 3-items intended
arate bias-corrected bootstrap models were created, with 10,0 0 0
to measure how much a person believes that (s)he would use a
bootstrap samples taken from existing data as recommended by
specified good or service (Hamilton et al., 2010). Perceived taste
Hayes (2015). This process generates a 95% confidence interval,
comprised 3-items intended to measure how well a drink tastes
whereby mediation can be determined if zero falls outside the
(Poor et al., 2013). Familiarity with the brand comprised 7-items
confidence interval, as per Preacher et al. (2007) and Zhao et al.
intended to measure a consumer’s familiarity and experience with
(2010).
a brand as well as several other things related to the brand such
In support of H2, the data indicates the total effect (Path C) and
as the products associated with the brand name, the advertising
the direct effect (Path C’) were both significant (0.45, 0.32, p < .01).
for the brand, the stores carrying the products, and the product
In addition, the analysis showed the effect of perceived taste on fa-
category (Martin et al., 2005). Nutrition Involvement comprised
miliarity with the brand (Path A) to be significant (0.24, p < .01). In
8-items intended to measure not only the degree of importance
turn, the effect of familiarity with the brand on sports drink con-
a person places on eating healthy but also the amount of at-
sumption (Path B) was also significant (0.55, p < .01). Moreover,
tention devoted to nutritional information of a particular product
the mediation effect (Path AB) was significant (0.13, p < .01, 95%
(Chandon and Wansink, 2007). To measure the perceived health
CI = 0.08 to 0.22) (Table 2).
condition of clear coloured sports drinks, participants rated the
clear colour on a 10-point Likert scale adapted from Westbrook
(1980) as a single-item scale. Single-item scales have been fre- 5.3. Dual stage moderated mediation
quently tested and utilised in the literature (Caruana et al., 20 0 0).
Table 1 summarises the scales used in this study. In support of H3 and H4 and to test for conditional effects with
dual stage moderated mediation, we employed the PROCESS macro
for SPSS (Model 21; Hayes, 2013), with separate bias-corrected
5. Results bootstrap models created, using 10,0 0 0 bootstrap samples
(Table 3).
Respondents reported on their use of sport drinks: Gatorade An investigation of the conditional indirect effects further sup-
(61.2%), Vitamin Water (14.1%), Powerade (11.2%), Propel Fitness port nutrition involvement as a moderator (H2) and clear colour as
(4%), Recovery Water (2.3%), Bodyarmor (1.4%), All-Sport (1.1%), Hy- a moderator (H3) on sports drink consumption. We analysed this
drafuel (0.4%) and Other (4.3%). conditional indirect effect at three values for each moderator. For
 P. van Esch and C.L. Gadsby / Australasian Marketing Journal 27 (2019) 179–186 183

Table 2 proportion of the variance, R2 = 0.02, F(1, 344) = 4.64, p = .05,
Reliability, descriptive statistics and Cronbach’s Alpha.
β = −0.11, t(344) = −2.16, p = .05. The bootstrap CIs indicated sig-
Scales Mean (SD) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. nificant effects at all three levels for nutrition involvement (Fig. 2).
1. Sports drink consumption 4.10 (1.74) [0.95]
2. Perceived taste 6.54 (1.74) .445∗∗ [0.93] 5.5. Moderation effect – clear colour
3. Familiarity with the brand 5.30 (1.00) .445∗∗ .464∗∗ [0.88]
4. Nutrition involvement 2.46 (0.52) .128∗ .153∗∗ .371∗∗ [0.76] In further support of H4, we tested the moderating effect of
5. Clear colour 5.84 (2.18) .474∗∗ .303∗∗ .185∗∗ .121∗ [–]
clear colour on familiarity with the brand and sports drink con-
Cronbach’s Alpha = [α > 0.7]. sumption (Model 1; Hayes, 2013). The results of the regression in-
∗
p < .05.
∗∗
dicated the two predictors explained 37% of the variance (R2 = 0.37,
p < .01.
F(3, 344) = 67.92, p < .01). It was found that clear colour signifi-
Table 3
cantly predicted sports drink consumption (β = 0.31, t(344) = 8.34,
Regression results – dual stage moderated mediation. p = .01), as did familiarity with the brand (β = 0.70, t(344) = −9.15,
p = .01). The interaction, accounted for a significant proportion
Independent variables Familiarity with Sports drink
the brand consumption
of the variance, R2 = 0.01, F(1, 344) = 9.74, p = .00, β = 0.08,
t(344) = 3.12, p = .01. The bootstrap CIs indicated significant effects
Constant 0.02 (0.05) 4.07∗∗ (0.07)
at all three levels for clear colour (Fig. 3).
Perceived taste 0.24∗∗ (0.03) 0.20∗∗ (0.06)
Nutrition involvement 0.56∗∗ (0.10) –
Perceived taste × Nutrition −.11∗ (0.05) – 6. Discussion
involvement
Familiarity with the brand – 0.55∗∗ (0.09) The results support the notion that sports drinks can have a
Clear colour – 0.28 (0.04)
Familiarity with the brand × Clear – 0.08∗∗ (0.03)
powerful effect on consumers, notably, consumption increases es-
colour pecially if sports drinks are perceived to be flavourful, delicious
R2 0.33 0.40 and good tasting and the consumer already has a familiarity with
MSE 0.68 1.84 the brand. A consumers nutrition involvement and the colour of
F 40.74∗∗ 73.63∗∗
the sports drink (e.g. clear colour) yielded results that both in-
DF 3344 4343
crease consumers’ familiarity with the brand and the consumption
The Numbers in parentheses are standard errors. of sports drinks respectively. The following discussion touches on
∗
p < .05.
∗∗ each of these results in turn.
p < .01.
Familiarity with the brand. Consumers are familiar with sports
Table 4 drinks, namely Gatorade, Vitamin Water, and Powerade and per-
Indirect effects – dual stage moderated mediation. ceive the consumption of these drinks as positive. The results also
suggest that the more consumers have positive views on the con-
Conditional indirect effect (IE) of perceived taste for:
sumption of sports drinks and have nutritional involvement by
Boot IE Boot SE 95% bootstrap CI
placing an emphasis on nutritional information and healthy eat-
Low nutrition involvement 1.94 0.11 0.03 0.06 to 0.18 ing, the more familiar they are with the brand. This is good news
2.46 0.16 0.03 0.10 to 0.23 for both manufacturers and retailers as this suggests that when
2.98 0.21 0.04 0.13 to 0.30
marketing the product, they may want to seek out those con-
High nutrition involvement 1.94 0.07 0.03 0.03 to 0.13
sumers who are both more familiar with sports drinks and con-
2.46 0.10 0.03 0.05 to 0.17
2.98 0.13 0.04 0.07 to 0.22 cerned about the healthiness of what they consume.
Low clear colour 3.66 0.11 0.03 0.06 to 0.18 Nutrition involvement. The results show that consumers who
5.84 0.09 0.03 0.04 to 0.15 place an emphasis on the nutritional information and healthiness
8.02 0.07 0.03 0.03 to 0.13 of sports drinks, perceive the taste of those drinks to be flavourful,
High clear colour 3.66 0.21 0.04 0.13 to 0.30 delicious and good tasting and as a consequence, consumers’ tend
5.84 0.17 0.04 0.10 to 0.25 to be more familiar with the brand and are more likely to consume
8.02 0.13 0.04 0.07 to 0.22
greater quantities of it. However, despite this positive result, it also
requires consumers’ to be committed to being healthy, as well as
have an ability to interpret the nutritional information and decide
nutrition involvement, the mean was 2.46. One standard deviation if it meets their perception of healthiness and/or health needs. In
below the mean was 1.94, and one standard deviation above the contrast, a simple cue of a clear coloured sports drink also eluci-
mean was 2.98. For clear colour, the mean was 5.84. One standard dates perceptions of healthiness without the need of the consumer
deviation below the mean was 3.66, and one standard deviation to be committed to a healthy cause or having to interpret nutri-
above the mean was 8.02. The bootstrap CIs indicated significant tional information (Northey et al., 2018).
effects at all three levels for both nutrition involvement and clear Clear colour. Consumers’ rated clear coloured sports drink the
colour (Table 4). healthiest when compared to the array of different coloured coun-
terparts. Moreover, their familiarity with the different sports drinks
5.4. Moderation effect – nutrition involvement brands positively influences their perceived taste of, and consump-
tion of those drinks.
In further support of H3, we tested the moderating effect In the beverage industry, it is often necessary to make small
of nutrition involvement on perceived taste and familiarity with changes to the marketing campaign of well-known products. Such
the brand (Model 1; Hayes, 2013). The results of the regres- changes have the potential to influence long-term consumer accep-
sion indicated the two predictors explained 33% of the variance tance of the product (Chung and Vickers, 2007). However, when
(R2 = 0.33, F(3, 344) = 4.64, p < .05). It was found that nutri- there is a lot of variance within a particular product segment, for
tion involvement significantly predicted familiarity with the brand example, different coloured sports drinks, a one-size-fits-all mar-
(β = 0.56, t(344) = 5.66, p = .01), as did perceived taste (β = 0.24, keting campaign may not be the right approach. Sports drinks
t(344) = 7.69, p = .01). The interaction, accounted for a significant manufacturers are deliberately promoting the healthiness of sports
184
Familiarity with the Brand
4
Low - Nutrition Involvement
6
Sports Drink Consumption
2
drinks, and this research identified that consumers associate clear
coloured sports drinks with healthiness. Therefore, implications for
marketers and beverage manufacturers indicate that when market-
ing the healthiness of the product, the campaigns may need to
focus on displaying clear coloured sports drinks only, rather than
promoting all of the different coloured products.
The decision to change from a broader product marketing cam-
paign to a specific feature of a product category marketing cam-
paign (e.g. clear coloured sports drinks) could be a major decision
for a manufacturer. The danger in adapting the marketing cam-
paign is that the more consumers are exposed to a particular stim-
ulus, the more they will prefer the specific stimuli (Chung et al.,
2010; Zajonc and Rajecki, 1969). Conversely, consumers may be-
come bored with the stimulus and use the product less frequently,
and therefore rate other coloured sports drinks more positively
(Zandstra et al., 2004).
Sports drink consumption. This research suggests that nutrition
involvement and the clear colour of sports drinks, positively in-
fluences perceived taste, brand familiarity and sports drink con-
sumption. Moreover, clear coloured sports drinks have a greater
P. van Esch and C.L. Gadsby / Australasian Marketing Journal 27 (2019) 179–186
Low High
Perceived Taste
Medium - Nutrition Involvement High - Nutrition Involvement
Fig. 2. Moderation effects – nutrition involvement.
Low High
Familiarity with the Brand
Fig. 3. Moderation effects – clear colour.
influence on sports drink consumption when compared to a con-
sumers’ nutrition involvement. Interestingly, marketers could indi-
vidually promote the consumption of sports drinks via consumers’
nutritional involvement to increase sports drink consumption.
Moreover, if marketers really want to influence consumers’ per-
ceived taste and healthiness of sports drinks to increase con-
sumption frequency, they should promote the consumers’ nutrition
involvement alongside clear coloured sports drinks.
Referring to the sports drinks industry, beverage manufactur-
ers are heavily promoting sports drinks as a healthier alternative
to both soft drinks and bottled water (Schneider and Benjamin,
2011). This type of marketing focuses on their perceived benefits,
such as attention, increased performance, obtaining getting energy,
stamina, staying awake and weight loss (Breda et al., 2014); all of
which remain unproven (Reissig et al., 2009). This research indi-
cates that marketers no longer need to market the perceived bene-
fits of sports drinks but must move to a new phase in sports drinks
marketing by targeting sports drink consumption through the pro-
motion of perceived taste, brand familiarity, the consumers’ nutri-
tion involvement, and the specific colour of the product (e.g. clear).
 P. van Esch and C.L. Gadsby / Australasian Marketing Journal 27 (2019) 179–186
7. Limitations, future research and conclusion
The study has several limitations. First, the study only fo-
cuses on sports drinks, which reduces the generalisability of
the research. Second, the study did not evaluate differences be-
tween demographic profiles. Third, the study only explored par-
ticipant perceptions to healthiness, taste, nutrition, brand familiar-
ity, colour, and sports drink consumption. Future research should
explore and evaluate participants in scenarios where they actu-
ally make product choices. Moreover, future research could also
include the evaluation of soft drinks, energy drinks, juices and al-
coholic drinks that offer colour variations of the segment to de-
termine if the generalisations hold across the entire beverage cat-
egory, within individual product categories/segments, or elucidate
differences and marketing requirements across the different prod-
ucts/categories/segments. Lastly, if marketers shift their marketing
tactics to nutritional involvement benefits based on clear coloured
beverages, manufacturers may see a reduction in unnecessary mar-
keting costs whilst enjoying an uplift in product consumption,
market share and profit.
Supplementary materials
Supplementary material associated with this article can be
found, in the online version, at doi:10.1016/j.ausmj.2019.04.001.
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