The first limitation that should be discussed has to do with product design. When creating snack Products A and B from Image 4, floral images were added to the purple snack product to increase the symmetrical aspect and enhance visual value as it has been found that graphic images are often more appealing to the eye. However, it was not taken into consideration that a floral image may not have a positive association with a food product. One participant even responded that they “would not associate flowers with something that tastes good” for their reason for selecting Product A instead. This response points out a potential flaw given that this particular respondent, as well as others, may have answered differently had Product B not included a floral association.

A second that can be acknowledged when analyzing this data is in regards to participant demographics. As a whole, the collection of demographics display a lack of racial/ethnic diversity, possibly altering the generalizability of responses. Additionally, there was a greater response count for female respondents than males, possibly affecting the ability to generalize this data, yet again.

Another limitation that should be considered is the context in which the word “celebrity” was utilized. Considering past research had discussed the idea of an influencer as more than just a celebrity, the word should have either been defined when used in the survey or had a broader scope that could have assessed multiple influential figures. This is important because as social media has become increasingly more popular, micro-influencers could potentially have just as much influence, if not more, as celebrities when it comes to promoting products. Had the question regarding celebrities been worded differently on the survey, results may have concluded differently regarding participants' conscious awareness of influence.

Yet another limitation that should be addressed is the human subconscious. Past research has shown that all details, from influencers to the shopping experience, can play a role in the decisions consumers make without even knowing it. With this being said, it is difficult to ask consumers about their influential status and own subconscious behaviors, when the definition of the subconscious mind itself refers to the part of the brain of which one is not fully aware, yet has an influence on one's actions and feelings (Merriam-Webster, 2024). Our subconscious makes decisions based on information that has been collected over years, that one may not even know they still retain. Because of this, it is nearly impossible to ask participants about this concept and use it as reliable data. While some forms of implication may be relevant, the human subconscious is always going to be difficult to deem accurate.

A final limitation that should be mentioned, and considered for future implication, is the style of data collection that was used. While a survey method allowed for both quantitative and qualitative data collection, it presented somewhat difficult to get detailed information from the participants. Although an interview format would have limited the number of participants, it would have allowed for more thorough responses and probing questions. For the questions that asked respondents to provide their reason for why they selected one product over another, probing questions could have dug further into aspects such as why certain words/images were more influential or why they still selected a product without full knowledge of the ingredients. The human subconscious, as previously discussed, can also be explored as a limitation because of the lack of probing questions due to survey methodology. Without a moderator that has subconscious selection in mind, participants are unable to consciously consider this as a factor and respond in full capacity. With the limitations of this research, future data collectors may consider more in-depth questionnaires that can analyze similar questions while also taking into account the participants’ lifestyles and eating habits. This will also allow for a closer analysis of important aspects such as the shopping experience and advertising seen prior to in-store decisions.