A higher price on high-calorie beverages resulted in a 16% decline in sales.
November 18/McLean, Va./NACS -- Researchers at Harvard conducted a study in the cafeteria of a financial services company, reports USA Today. What they found, as they raised the price of beverages containing 150 calories or more per container (soda, lemonade, whole chocolate milk and some juices) by one cent per ounce, is that consumers were not buying, or buying less. Researchers kept the price of beverages with 45 to 149 calories and zero-calorie beverages the same
“So a 20oz. bottle of a high-calorie drink cost 20 cents more than the same-sized container of low-calorie or zero-calorie beverages,” notes the newspaper. Jason Block, the study’s lead researcher, said that Harvard researchers “chose this amount because this is what public health experts say might be used as a tax on sugary beverages.”