IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v182y2024ics0148296324003163.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effectiveness of sugar-sweetened beverage warning labels: An examination of consumer reactance and cost of compliance

Author

Listed:
  • Hughner, Renée Shaw
  • Dumitrescu, Claudia

Abstract

In light of public policy initiatives to curb the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB), the current research examines when SSB warning labels are likely to be effective. The purpose of two empirical studies was to analyze cost of compliance as a moderator of behavioral compliance with a warning and whether the mediating effect of SSB warning labels on behavioral compliance through reactance was conditioned on the cost of compliance. The results showed that, when marketers remove beneficial pricing for larger beverage sizes (i.e., a proportional pricing strategy is used), SSB warning labels have the intended consequences, with consumers reporting lower reactance levels to such measures. This research provides evidence that beverage companies can play a substantial role in warning label efficacy by reevaluating their current pricing strategies; this is vital for generating business and policy interventions that improve consumers’ health and wellbeing.

Suggested Citation

  • Hughner, Renée Shaw & Dumitrescu, Claudia, 2024. "The effectiveness of sugar-sweetened beverage warning labels: An examination of consumer reactance and cost of compliance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:182:y:2024:i:c:s0148296324003163
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2024.114812
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296324003163
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2024.114812?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Clee, Mona A & Wicklund, Robert A, 1980. "Consumer Behavior and Psychological Reactance," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 6(4), pages 389-405, March.
    2. Monárrez-Espino, J. & Liu, B. & Greiner, F. & Bremberg, S. & Galanti, R., 2014. "Systematic review of the effect of pictorial warnings on cigarette packages in smoking behavior," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 104(10), pages 11-30.
    3. Chou, Shin-Yi & Grossman, Michael & Saffer, Henry, 2004. "An economic analysis of adult obesity: results from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 565-587, May.
    4. Nguyen Pham & Naomi Mandel & Andrea C. Morales, 2016. "Messages from the Food Police: How Food-Related Warnings Backfire among Dieters," Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(1), pages 175-190.
    5. Barlow, Todd & Wogalter, Michael S, 1993. "Alcoholic Beverage Warnings in Magazine and Television Advertisements," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 20(1), pages 147-156, June.
    6. Newton, Fiona J. & Newton, Joshua D. & Wong, Jimmy, 2017. "This is your stomach speaking: Anthropomorphized health messages reduce portion size preferences among the powerless," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 229-239.
    7. Anna H Grummon & Marissa G Hall, 2020. "Sugary drink warnings: A meta-analysis of experimental studies," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(5), pages 1-21, May.
    8. Goldberg, M.E. & Liefeld, J. & Madill, J. & Vredenburg, H., 1999. "The effect of plain packaging on response to health warnings," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 89(9), pages 1434-1435.
    9. Matthew J C Crump & John V McDonnell & Todd M Gureckis, 2013. "Evaluating Amazon's Mechanical Turk as a Tool for Experimental Behavioral Research," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(3), pages 1-18, March.
    10. Bui, My (Myla) & Tangari, Andrea Heintz & Haws, Kelly L., 2017. "Can health “halos” extend to food packaging? An investigation into food healthfulness perceptions and serving sizes on consumption decisions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 221-228.
    11. Malhotra, Naresh K, 1982. "Information Load and Consumer Decision Making," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 8(4), pages 419-430, March.
    12. Vartanian, L.R. & Schwartz, M.B. & Brownell, K.D., 2007. "Effects of soft drink consumption on nutrition and health: A systematic review and meta-analysis," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 97(4), pages 667-675.
    13. Jennifer Cantrell & Donna M Vallone & James F Thrasher & Rebekah H Nagler & Shari P Feirman & Larry R Muenz & David Y He & Kasisomayajula Viswanath, 2013. "Impact of Tobacco-Related Health Warning Labels across Socioeconomic, Race and Ethnic Groups: Results from a Randomized Web-Based Experiment," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(1), pages 1-11, January.
    14. Simona Botti & Susan Broniarczyk & Gerald Häubl & Ron Hill & Yanliu Huang & Barbara Kahn & Praveen Kopalle & Donald Lehmann & Joe Urbany & Brian Wansink, 2008. "Choice under restrictions," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 183-199, December.
    15. Gavan J. Fitzsimons & Donald R. Lehmann, 2004. "Reactance to Recommendations: When Unsolicited Advice Yields Contrary Responses," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 82-94, September.
    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. Trampe, Debra & Konuş, Umut & Verhoef, Peter C., 2014. "Customer Responses to Channel Migration Strategies Toward the E-channel," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 257-270.
    2. Tian, Jing & Chen, Rong & Xu, Xiaobing, 2022. "A good way to boost sales? Effects of the proportion of sold-out options on purchase behavior," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 156-169.
    3. Janice Y. Jung & Barbara A. Mellers, 2016. "American attitudes toward nudges," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 11(1), pages 62-74, January.
    4. Kuehnle, Daniel, 2019. "How effective are pictorial warnings on tobacco products? New evidence on smoking behaviour using Australian panel data," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    5. Wada, Roy & Han, Euna & Powell, Lisa M., 2015. "Associations between soda prices and intake: Evidence from 24-h dietary recall data," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 54-60.
    6. Brown, Timothy & Majors, Tracie M. & Peecher, Mark E., 2020. "Evidence on how different interventions affect juror assessment of auditor legal culpability and responsibility for damages after auditor failure to detect fraud," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    7. Pabitra Chatterjee & Barthelemy Chollet & Olivier Trendel, 2017. "From conformity to reactance: Contingent role of network centrality in consumer-to-consumer influence," Post-Print hal-01589885, HAL.
    8. Rebecca Hamilton & Debora Thompson & Zachary Arens & Simon Blanchard & Gerald Häubl & P. Kannan & Uzma Khan & Donald Lehmann & Margaret Meloy & Neal Roese & Manoj Thomas, 2014. "Consumer substitution decisions: an integrative framework," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 305-317, September.
    9. Klaus Wertenbroch & Rom Y. Schrift & Joseph W. Alba & Alixandra Barasch & Amit Bhattacharjee & Markus Giesler & Joshua Knobe & Donald R. Lehmann & Sandra Matz & Gideon Nave & Jeffrey R. Parker & Stefa, 2020. "Autonomy in consumer choice," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 31(4), pages 429-439, December.
    10. Chatterjee, Pabitra & Chollet, Barthélemy & Trendel, Olivier, 2017. "From conformity to reactance: Contingent role of network centrality in consumer-to-consumer influence," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 86-94.
    11. Nguyen Pham & Naomi Mandel & Andrea C. Morales, 2016. "Messages from the Food Police: How Food-Related Warnings Backfire among Dieters," Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(1), pages 175-190.
    12. Jenny Doorn & Janny Hoekstra, 2013. "Customization of online advertising: The role of intrusiveness," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 339-351, December.
    13. Söderlund, Magnus & Mattsson, Jan, 2015. "Merely asking the customer to recommend has an impact on word-of-mouth activity," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 80-89.
    14. Cabano, Frank G. & Attari, Amin, 2023. "Don’t tell me how much to tip: The influence of gratuity guidelines on consumers’ favorability of the brand," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    15. Pabitra Chatterjee & Barthelemy Chollet & Olivier Trendel, 2017. "From conformity to reactance: Contingent role of network centrality in consumer-to-consumer influence," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-01589885, HAL.
    16. De Vries, Eline L.E. & Zhang, Sha, 2020. "The effectiveness of random discounts for migrating customers to the mobile channel," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 272-281.
    17. repec:cup:judgdm:v:11:y:2016:i:1:p:62-74 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Bertini, Marco & Aydinli, Aylin, 2020. "Consumer Reactance to Promotional Favors," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 96(4), pages 578-589.
    19. Krafft, Manfred & Arden, Christine M. & Verhoef, Peter C., 2017. "Permission Marketing and Privacy Concerns — Why Do Customers (Not) Grant Permissions?," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 39-54.
    20. Lichtman-Sadot, Shirlee, 2016. "Does banning carbonated beverages in schools decrease student consumption?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 30-50.
    21. Shapiro, Stephen L. & Drayer, Joris & Dwyer, Brendan, 2020. "An examination of consumer reactance to daily fantasy sport and sport gambling regulatory restrictions," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 797-809.

    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:eee:jbrese:v:182:y:2024:i:c:s0148296324003163. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    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.