The Secret to Getting People to Eat Vegetables? Give Them a Sexy Name

These results offer useful intel for the marketing of healthy foods, and build on existing evidence showing the power of out-of-out-of-the-box labels (i.e., superhero characters) on consumer preference for healthy foods, according to researchers. (Getty Images)

Let's face it: You'd rather reach for a delectable dessert than a vegetable. But what if that vegetable had an alluring, indulgent name?

It turns out, people are more likely to eat vegetables labeled with decadent descriptors than those with basic or healthier labels, according to a new research letter published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Specifically, 25 percent more people chose the vegetable with the more seductive-sounding name than the basic one.

Stanford University researchers tested their theory in one of the university's cafeterias, examining the habits of approximately 28,000 diners over the course of 46 days, USA Today reports.

Vegetables were tested using a multitude of descriptors. Butternut squash, for example, was described as follows, despite all being prepared the same:

• Twisted garlic-ginger butternut squash wedges (indulgent descriptor)
• Butternut squash (basic)
• Butternut squash with no added sugar (healthy restrictive descriptor)
• Antioxidant-rich butternut squash (healthy positive descriptor)

Forty-one percent more people went for the seductive label over the healthy restrictive one, and 35 percent more preferred the healthy positive one.

What does this tell us, exactly?

"Choice is a really complex thing. But this study suggests that giving vegetables an indulgent tag can help raise their hierarchy," Heather Hartwell, a professor from Bournemouth University in the U.K., told the BBC.

The researchers wrote that these results offer useful intel for the marketing of healthy foods, and build on existing evidence showing the power of out-of-the-box labels (i.e., superhero characters) on consumer preference for healthy foods.

"This novel, low-cost intervention could easily be implemented in cafeterias, restaurants and consumer products to increase selection of healthier options," according to the study.

Still, more research is needed to understand how to combat the perception that healthy food equals boring food.

"Further research should assess how well the effects generalize to other settings and explore the potential of indulgent labeling to help alleviate the pervasive cultural mindset that healthy foods are not tasty," the study concluded.

Needless to say, if you're struggling to get someone to eat more vegetables, you might try jazzing up how you name them.