Comparing direct and indirect measures of attitudes toward health and sustainability in the perception of organic and ancient wheat labels

Rising interest in organic and sustainably cereal-based foods necessitates clarifying how consumers' health and sustainability attitudes influence product experience. While attitudes are usually assessed through validated scales, such measures may suffer from social desirability bias, underscoring the value of complementary indirect techniques. This study investigates how consumer segmentation based on health and sustainability attitudes influences expectations and perception of organic crackers made from ancient ( Verna ) and modern ( Altavista ) wheat. Attitudes were measured through explicit scales and the indirect text highlighting (TH) method. Following a within-subjects design, one hundred and eighteen consumers evaluated the crackers under blind (only tasting), expected (only information: organic label alone vs. organic combined with the ancient wheat label), and informed conditions (tasting+information). Explicit scales identified two clusters, differing in broad general interest (high vs low) for both health and sustainability. Conversely, TH revealed a different context-specific segmentation based on information prioritization, distinguishing two groups, a health-oriented and a sustainability-oriented group. The two methods did not overlap, separating broad attitudinal traits (scales) from context-specific priorities (TH). Combined organic and ancient wheat cues generated higher expectations for liking, healthiness, sustainability, naturalness, and novelty than the organic label alone across consumer prioritizing health (TH) and both sustainability and health (attitudes) information. However, no assimilation toward expectations was found for liking, suggesting a misalignment between expectations and product experience. This research highlights the complementary value of indirect methods (TH) and underscores the need to align extrinsic cues with sensory characteristics to support more sustainable and healthier food choices.