A War on Sugar? Effects of Reduced Sugar Content and Package Size in the Soda Category

Increased consumer demand for healthier product options and looming regulation have prompted many goods brands to adjust the amount of sugar content in their lines, including adding products with reduced or smaller package sizes. Even as adopt such practices, little guidance exists how they should do so protect enhance brand performance. This research studies whether when reduction strategies affect sales. The analysis almost 130,000 additions by nearly 80 over 11 years U.S. soda category shows that, on average, reductions perform comparably similar without content, while sizes better. Importantly, these effects depend substantially labeling, branding, packaging decisions. By accounting contingent effects, this study establishes win–win conditions, which realize higher volume sales category-level decrease. In doing so, sheds light marketing can bridge brands’ objective society's health focus, well good simultaneously.