Healthy Food Cost Belief

What it measures

A three-item scale capturing the intuitive belief that eating healthily costs more than eating unhealthily—that healthy foods carry a price premium over unhealthy alternatives. Developed to operationalise the 'healthy = expensive' lay theory studied in the context of dietary decision-making.

Response format

7-point Likert-type (likely Strongly disagree / Strongly agree)

Scale items

• Eating a healthy diet costs more than eating an unhealthy diet.
• Healthier foods are generally more expensive than unhealthier foods.
• Unhealthy foods are often quite inexpensive compared to healthy foods.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Response scale anchors were not explicitly reported; likely Strongly disagree / Strongly agree on a 7-point scale. Originally used in a pilot study reported in the web appendix. Suitable for research on perceived barriers to healthy eating.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Haws, K.L., Reczek, R.W., & Sample, K.L. (2017). Healthy diets make empty wallets: The healthy = expensive intuition. Journal of Consumer Research, 43(6), 992–1007.

Keywords