Food for Thought: How Will the Nutrition Labeling of Quick Service Restaurant Menu Items Influence Consumers’ Product Evaluations, Purchase Intentions, and Choices?

Within the context of quick service restaurant meals, three studies (a consumer diary study, web-based experiment, and longitudinal experiment) examine how accurately consumers estimate calorie, fat, and sodium content and explore how objective nutrition information may influence product evaluations, perceptions, and purchase intentions. The results indicate that many consumers have little understanding of the calorie, fat, and sodium levels of many typical quick service meals, and this is especially true for less healthful meals. Consistent with rationale drawn from the expectancy-disconfirmation paradigm, results demonstrate that menu-based nutrition information provision negatively influences consumers’ responses when that information is less favorable than expected. Findings suggest that the relationship between actual and expected nutrition levels drives responses, rather than the disclosure of information per se. Since these relationships can vary both within and between restaurants, results suggest that the effects of mandated nutrition information disclosure may not be uniform across the industry.