Awe and healthy eating among adolescents: Differential mechanisms and intervention strategies

Abstract: Awe is an emotion of wonder and perceived vastness that arises when people encounter stimuli that exceed their existing mental frames. Prior studies suggest that awe can encourage healthier choices, but it remains unclear whether adolescents respond in the same way to awe elicited by nature and awe elicited by non-nature-based stimuli. Drawing on nature connectedness and construal-level perspectives, this study examined how different forms of awe shaped adolescents’ healthy eating preferences and identified presentation strategies that could strengthen these effects.
Five experiments were conducted with adolescent participants (N = 937). In Study 1, video materials were used to induce positive nature-based awe, negative nature-based awe, non-nature-based awe, or a neutral emotional state. Participants then completed a healthy snack-choice task. Nature connectedness and construal level were measured as potential mediators. Studies 2a and 2b tested whether cues related to food naturalness would enhance the effect of positive nature-based awe. Study 2a presented yogurt advertisements that emphasized natural or artificial attributes, whereas Study 2b manipulated packaging color as an indirect cue of naturalness. Healthy eating was assessed using self-reported healthy food preferences and willingness to pay (WTP). Studies 3a and 3b examined whether activating high-level construal would strengthen the effect of non-nature-based awe. Study 3a varied advertising appeals by emphasizing long-term versus immediate health benefits, and Study 3b varied spatial framing by presenting healthy foods in distant versus close-up views. Across experiments, participants completed emotion manipulation checks, food evaluation tasks, and demographic measures.
Consistent with our hypotheses, the results showed that both positive nature-based awe and non-nature-based awe promoted healthier eating, as reflected in healthier snack choices, stronger preferences for healthy foods, and higher WTP. Crucially, the two forms of awe operated through different psychological pathways. Positive nature-based awe increased healthy eating mainly by strengthening adolescents’ connectedness with nature, whereas non-nature-based awe increased healthy eating mainly by promoting a higher construal level. The follow-up experiments further supported these mechanism-specific enhancement strategies. When adolescents experienced positive nature-based awe, emphasizing a food’s natural attributes, rather than artificial attributes, and using natural packaging colors, rather than non-natural colors, increased healthy food evaluations and WTP. When adolescents experienced non-nature-based awe, highlighting long-term health benefits rather than immediate benefits, or presenting healthy foods in distant rather than close-up views, participants reported stronger healthy eating preferences and higher WTP. These patterns indicated that different forms of awe operate through source-specific psychological mechanisms and that matching food cues to the relevant mechanism produces stronger effects than mismatched or neutral presentations.
Overall, these findings suggest that awe is not a uniform emotional driver of healthy eating. Instead, the health-promoting effect of awe depends on its source and on whether food messages fit the psychological process it activates. The study extends research on emotion and dietary decision-making by distinguishing nature connectedness from construal level as two mechanisms linking awe to adolescents’ food choices. It also offers practical implications for nutrition education, school-based health promotion, and public health communication. Awe-based interventions may be more effective when emotional induction is paired with naturalness cues or with higher-level construal framing that matches the type of awe being elicited.