IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jconsa/v54y2020i2p395-416.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do consumers view the nutrition facts panel when making healthfulness assessments of food products? Antecedents and consequences

Author

Listed:
  • Manoj Hastak
  • Anusree Mitra
  • Debra J. Ringold

Abstract

Consumer use of the Nutrition Facts Panel (NFP) is an important topic of interest to researchers and public policymakers. Studies conducted in the United States and elsewhere find high levels of self‐reported use of the NFP or its equivalent. However, data from self‐reports may inflate estimated NFP use due to social desirability problems. Utilizing data from an online experiment, we examine whether consumers choose to view the NFP when assessing the nutritional properties and disease‐fighting abilities of foods. We also examine the antecedents of NFP‐viewing behavior and its implications for the accuracy of healthfulness judgments and the potential for overgeneralization. We conclude with a discussion of the public policy implications of our results and point to directions for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Manoj Hastak & Anusree Mitra & Debra J. Ringold, 2020. "Do consumers view the nutrition facts panel when making healthfulness assessments of food products? Antecedents and consequences," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 395-416, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jconsa:v:54:y:2020:i:2:p:395-416
    DOI: 10.1111/joca.12301
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12301
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/joca.12301?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Todd, Jessica E. & Variyam, Jayachandran N., 2008. "The Decline in Consumer Use of Food Nutrition Labels, 1995-2006," Economic Research Report 56466, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    2. Jayachandran N. Variyam & John Cawley, 2006. "Nutrition Labels and Obesity," NBER Working Papers 11956, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Jordan Lin, Chung-Tung & Lee, Jonq-Ying & Yen, Steven T., 2004. "Do dietary intakes affect search for nutrient information on food labels?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 59(9), pages 1955-1967, November.
    4. Anusree Mitra & Manoj Hastak & Debra J. Ringold & Alan S. Levy, 2019. "Consumer Skepticism of Claims in Food Ads vs. on Food Labels: An Exploration of Differences and Antecedents," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 1443-1455, December.
    5. Barreiro-Hurlé, Jesús & Gracia, Azucena & de-Magistris, Tiziana, 2010. "Does nutrition information on food products lead to healthier food choices?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 221-229, June.
    6. Dick, Alan & Chakravarti, Dipankar & Biehal, Gabriel, 1990. "Memory-Based Inferences during Consumer Choice," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 17(1), pages 82-93, June.
    7. Orquin, Jacob L. & Scholderer, Joachim, 2015. "Consumer judgments of explicit and implied health claims on foods: Misguided but not misled," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 144-157.
    8. Sophie Hieke & Charles R. Taylor, 2012. "A Critical Review of the Literature on Nutritional Labeling," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 120-156, March.
    9. Andreas Drichoutis & Panagiotis Lazaridis & Rodolfo Nayga & Maria Kapsokefalou & George Chryssochoidis, 2008. "A theoretical and empirical investigation of nutritional label use," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 9(3), pages 293-304, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cavaliere, Alessia & De Marchi, Elisa & Banterle, Alessandro, 2013. "Time Preference and Health: The Problem of Obesity," 2013 International European Forum, February 18-22, 2013, Innsbruck-Igls, Austria 164754, International European Forum on System Dynamics and Innovation in Food Networks.
    2. Azzurra Annunziata & Angela Mariani, 2016. "The role of nutritional labeling in promoting healthier food choices: a review of the major issues in the EU," RIVISTA DI STUDI SULLA SOSTENIBILITA', FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2016(2), pages 107-119.
    3. Cavaliere, Alessia & De Marchi, Elisa & Banterle, Alessandro, 2015. "Information based food policy: is nutritional label the right instrument for everyone?," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 211399, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    4. repec:ags:iaae15:211447 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Guan, Lijun & Zhang, Yan & Jin, Shaosheng & Zhou, Lin, 2021. "Understanding the low use rate of food nutrition information in China," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 24(5), April.
    6. Jeremy Kees & Marla B. Royne & Yoon-Na Cho, 2014. "Regulating Front-of-Package Nutrition Information Disclosures: A Test of Industry Self-Regulation vs. Other Popular Options," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 147-174, March.
    7. Kiesel, Kristin & Villas-Boas, Sofia B., 2013. "Can information costs affect consumer choice? Nutritional labels in a supermarket experiment," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 153-163.
    8. Zhu, Chen & Huang, Rui, 2014. "Heterogeneity in Consumer Responses to Front-of-Package Nutrition Labels: Evidence from a Natural Experiment?," Working Papers 27, University of Connecticut, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Charles J. Zwick Center for Food and Resource Policy.
    9. Stefanella Stranieri & Lucia Baldi & Alessandro Banterle, 2010. "Do Nutrition Claims Matter to Consumers? An Empirical Analysis Considering European Requirements," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(1), pages 15-33, February.
    10. Elizabeth A. Minton & T. Bettina Cornwell, 2016. "The Cause Cue Effect: Cause-Related Marketing and Consumer Health Perceptions," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(2), pages 372-402, July.
    11. Cavaliere, Alessia & De Marchi, Elisa & Banterle, Alessandro, 2014. "Does Consumer Time Preference Affect Label Use?," 2014 International European Forum, February 17-21, 2014, Innsbruck-Igls, Austria 199401, International European Forum on System Dynamics and Innovation in Food Networks.
    12. Kiesel, Kristin & Villas-Boas, Sofia B., 2009. "Can Information Costs Confuse Consumer Choice?---Nutritional Labels in a Supermarket Experiment," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt6st6d0rr, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    13. Angelo Corallo & Maria Elena Latino & Marta Menegoli & Biagia De Devitiis & Rosaria Viscecchia, 2019. "Human Factor in Food Label Design to Support Consumer Healthcare and Safety: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-14, July.
    14. Banterle, Alessandro & Cavaliere, Alessia, 2014. "Is there a relationship between product attributes, nutrition labels and excess weight? Evidence from an Italian region," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(P1), pages 241-249.
    15. Luca Panzone & Guy Garrod & Felice Adinolfi & Jorgelina Di Pasquale, 2022. "Molecular marketing, personalised information and willingness‐to‐pay for functional foods: Vitamin D enriched eggs," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(3), pages 666-689, September.
    16. Edenbrandt, Anna Kristina & Smed, Sinne, 2018. "Exploring the correlation between self-reported preferences and actual purchases of nutrition labeled products," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 71-80.
    17. Banterle, Alessandro & Cavaliere, Alessia, 2009. "The social and economic determinants of obesity: an empirical study in Italy," 113th Seminar, September 3-6, 2009, Chania, Crete, Greece 90889, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    18. Iina Ikonen & Francesca Sotgiu & Aylin Aydinli & Peeter W. J. Verlegh, 2020. "Consumer effects of front-of-package nutrition labeling: an interdisciplinary meta-analysis," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 360-383, May.
    19. D. Fang & R. M. Nayga & H. A. Snell & G. H. West & C. Bazzani, 2019. "Evaluating USA’s New Nutrition and Supplement Facts Label: Evidence from a Non-hypothetical Choice Experiment," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 42(4), pages 545-562, December.
    20. Sundstrom, W.A. & McIntyre, S. & Baker, G.A. & Avants, B., . "Bearers of Bad New: Heterogeneous Effects of Alternative Front-of-Package Labeling Schemes for Nutritional Information," Journal of Agribusiness, Agricultural Economics Association of Georgia, vol. 38(1).
    21. Mohamad Rohieszan Ramdan & Zuraidah Zainol & Rusliza Yahaya & Nurul Fadly Habidin & Juliana Osman, 2018. "The Effect of Nutrition Label Literacy and Attitude towards Nutrition Label on Healthy Food Choice among Consumer in Malaysia," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 8(2), pages 671-686, February.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jconsa:v:54:y:2020:i:2:p:395-416. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0022-0078 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.