"Try it; it's good and it's good for you": effects of taste and nutrition information on willingness to try novel foods.

In an attempt to understand the effects of information on willingness to taste foods, we presented college students with a variety of familiar and novel foods of animal and vegetable origin. Participants received one of four types of information about the foods: none, they tasted good, they were high in vitamins, or they were high in vitamins and might soon be available in the college cafeteria. The information manipulation had no effect on willingness to taste familiar foods. Willingness to taste novel non-animal foods was increased by both taste and vitamin-plus-availability information, while willingness to taste animal foods was not affected by information. Willingness to taste novel foods was also predicted by a measure of trait neophobia. The results suggest that (a) emotional reactions to animal foods may block information effects, and (b) nutrition information is more effective in a context where the food is believed to be available.