Imagine it, trust it: How anatomical depiction influences consumer intention to purchase organic food

As consumers' focus on healthy eating grows, enhancing their trust in organic food promotion has become an urgent industry priority. This paper reveals a new visual approach —anatomical depiction —and its enhancement of consumers' organic food purchase intention. This effect occurs because anatomical depiction elicits consumers' imagery of food making and plating, which is defined as “simulated making process”, thereby strengthening trust in organic food. Four preregistered experiments (data from Wenjuan.com) were conducted to verify these effects. SPSS 24.0 was used for data analysis, and G*Power was employed for post-hoc power analysis. A prestudy (n = 145, Chi-square) provided evidence for the simulated making process; Study1 (n = 192, ANOVA) showed the anatomical depiction's main effect; Study2 (n = 194, PROCESS model 6) validated serial mediation; Study3 (n = 201, PROCESS model 91) found more substantial effects for high (vs. low) ingredient diversity. This paper is the first to investigate the downstream effects of anatomical depiction in organic food research, identifying it as a trust mechanism with ingredient diversity as a boundary. These insights extend theoretical boundaries in visual cues and offer actionable recommendations, such as prioritizing anatomical depiction for high diversity organic food to optimize management and strengthen trust.