H3) Changes in palatability ratings mediate changes in consumption
If both ANOVAs on the palatability ratings and consumption reached significance, were driven by a greater effect for the experimental versus the control group, and were above our minimum effect size of interest, we would have performed a causal mediation analysis with 10,000 Monte Carlo draws for quasi-Bayesian approximations, with the intervention factor as the independent variable, the change in consumption as the dependent variable, and the change in unhealthy palatability ratings as the mediator. If the average causal mediation effect (i.e., the indirect effect) is significant, then we would have interpreted changes in unhealthy palatability ratings as mediating the effect of the intervention on reduced consumption.