IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jcopol/v42y2019i3d10.1007_s10603-019-09420-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Improving Nutritional Quality of Consumers’ Food Purchases With Traffic-Lights Labels: An Experimental Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • S. Marette

    (Université Paris-Saclay)

  • L. Nabec

    (Université Paris-Sud)

  • F. Durieux

    (Université Paris-Sud)

Abstract

A laboratory experiment was conducted in France to evaluate the role of colour-coded traffic lights (TLs) in signalling the nutritional quality of food. The experimental protocol focused on participants’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) for breakfast cereals, and it precisely identified the impact of both TL appearance and additional explanations about these TLs. The results of this paper show a significant influence of both TL appearance and additional explanations on consumers’ WTP. Regarding the TL appearance, the red colour associated with a low nutritional quality of foods has a sustained impact compared to the impact of the green and yellow colours. In other words, the placement of TLs on all products mainly leads to a reduction in WTP for products with the red colour, although WTP for other products with the green or yellow colours also changes. Additional explanations about TLs and nutrition also matter because they significantly influence WTP. Based on the participants’ WTP, we estimate the welfare impact of mandatory TLs, suggesting that it would be socially optimal to introduce these mandatory TLs with additional explanations.

Suggested Citation

  • S. Marette & L. Nabec & F. Durieux, 2019. "Improving Nutritional Quality of Consumers’ Food Purchases With Traffic-Lights Labels: An Experimental Analysis," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 377-395, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jcopol:v:42:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s10603-019-09420-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10603-019-09420-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10603-019-09420-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10603-019-09420-5?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 look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jutta Roosen & Stéphan Marette, 2011. "Making the "right" choice based on experiments: regulatory decisions for food and health," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 38(3), pages 361-381, August.
    2. Céline Bonnet & Vincent Réquillart, 2013. "Impact of Cost Shocks on Consumer Prices in Vertically-Related Markets: The Case of The French Soft Drink Market," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 95(5), pages 1088-1108.
    3. Armin Falk & James J. Heckman, 2009. "Lab Experiments are a Major Source of Knowledge in the Social Sciences," Working Papers 200935, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    4. Gunne Grankvist & Ulf Dahlstrand & Anders Biel, 2004. "The Impact of Environmental Labelling on Consumer Preference: Negative vs. Positive Labels," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 213-230, June.
    5. Anne-Célia Disdier & Stéphan Marette, 2012. "Taxes, minimum-quality standards and/or product labeling to improve environmental quality and welfare: Experiments can provide answers," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 337-357, June.
    6. Hallstein, Eric & Villas-Boas, Sofia Berto, 2009. "Are Consumers Color Blind?: an empirical investigation of a traffic light advisory for sustainable seafood," CUDARE Working Papers 120535, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    7. Marette Stéphan & Roosen Jutta & Blanchemanche Sandrine, 2011. "The Combination of Lab and Field Experiments for Benefit-Cost Analysis," Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, De Gruyter, vol. 2(3), pages 1-36, August.
    8. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-00754589 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Christine Moorman & Rosellina Ferraro & Joel Huber, 2012. "Unintended Nutrition Consequences: Firm Responses to the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(5), pages 717-737, September.
    10. Rousu, Matthew C. & Marette, Stéphan & Thrasher, James F. & Lusk, Jayson L., 2014. "The economic value to smokers of graphic warning labels on cigarettes: Evidence from combining market and experimental auction data," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 123-134.
    11. Mathios, Alan D, 2000. "The Impact of Mandatory Disclosure Laws on Product Choices: An Analysis of the Salad Dressing Market," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 43(2), pages 651-677, October.
    12. Marette Stéphan, 2019. "The Ambiguous Impact of Information Related to Fish Sustainability," Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, De Gruyter, vol. 17(2), pages 1-14, November.
    13. Richard H. Thaler & Cass R. Sunstein, 2023. "Libertarian paternalism," Chapters, in: Cass R. Sunstein & Lucia A. Reisch (ed.), Research Handbook on Nudges and Society, chapter 1, pages 10-16, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    14. Paolo Crosetto & Laurent Muller & Bernard Ruffieux, 2015. "Helping consumers with a front-of-pack label: numbers or colours? Experimental comparison between Guideline Daily Amount and Traffic Light in a diet building exercice," Working Papers hal-01847217, HAL.
    15. Rousu, M. & Huffman, Wallace & Shogren, Jason F. & Tegene, Abebayehu, 2004. "Estimating the Public Value of Information: Genetically Modified Foods," Staff General Research Papers Archive 10426, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    16. Reisch, Lucia A. & Sunstein, Cass R. & Gwozdz, Wencke, 2017. "Viewpoint: Beyond carrots and sticks: Europeans support health nudges," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 1-10.
    17. Brenna Ellison & Jayson L. Lusk & David Davis, 2014. "The Impact Of Restaurant Calorie Labels On Food Choice: Results From A Field Experiment," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 52(2), pages 666-681, April.
    18. Matthew C. Rousu & Wallace E. Huffman & Jason F. Shogren & Abebayehu Tegene, 2004. "Estimating the Public Value of Conflicting Information: The Case of Genetically Modified Foods," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 80(1), pages 125-135.
    19. Jayson L. Lusk & Stéphan Marette, 2010. "Welfare Effects of Food Labels and Bans with Alternative Willingness to Pay Measures," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 32(2), pages 319-337.
    20. Matthew Rousu & Wallace E. Huffman & Jason F. Shogren & Abebayehu Tegene, 2007. "Effects And Value Of Verifiable Information In A Controversial Market: Evidence From Lab Auctions Of Genetically Modified Food," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 45(3), pages 409-432, July.
    21. Stéphan Marette & Jutta Roosen & Sandrine Blanchemanche, 2008. "Taxes and subsidies to change eating habits when information is not enough: an application to fish consumption," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 119-143, October.
    22. Bialkova, Svetlana & Grunert, Klaus G. & van Trijp, Hans, 2013. "Standing out in the crowd: The effect of information clutter on consumer attention for front-of-pack nutrition labels," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 65-74.
    23. Yokessa, Maïmouna & Marette, Stéphan, 2019. "A Review of Eco-labels and their Economic Impact," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 13(1-2), pages 119-163, April.
    24. Laurent Muller & Anne Lacroix & Jayson L. Lusk & Bernard Ruffieux, 2017. "Distributional Impacts of Fat Taxes and Thin Subsidies," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(604), pages 2066-2092, September.
    25. 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.
    26. Mario F. Teisl & Nancy E. Bockstael & Alan Levy, 2001. "Measuring the Welfare Effects of Nutrition Information," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 83(1), pages 133-149.
    27. Foster, William & Just, Richard E., 1989. "Measuring welfare effects of product contamination with consumer uncertainty," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 266-283, November.
    28. Villas-Boas, Sofia B & Kiesel, Kristin, 2013. "Another Nutritional Label: Experimenting with Grocery Store Labels and Consumer Choice," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt5rf359pn, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    29. Jean-Sauveur Ay & Raja Chakir & Stephan Marette, 2017. "Distance Decay in the Willingness to Pay for Wine: Disentangling Local and Organic Attributes," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 68(4), pages 997-1019, December.
    30. Wansink, Brian & Sonka, Steven T. & Hasler, Clare M., 2004. "Front-label health claims: when less is more," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 659-667, December.
    31. Fabrice Larceneux & Florence Benoît-Moreau & Valérie Renaudin, 2012. "Why organic labels do not always promote sustainable consumption? Marginal labelling and brand equity effects," Post-Print hal-00660153, HAL.
    32. Keller, Kevin Lane & Staelin, Richard, 1989. "Assessing Biases in Measuring Decision Effectiveness and Information Overload," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 15(4), pages 504-508, March.
    33. Cass R. Sunstein & Richard H. Thaler, 2003. "Libertarian paternalism is not an oxymoron," Conference Series ; [Proceedings], Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, vol. 48(Jun).
    34. Olivier Bonroy & Christos Constantatos, 2015. "On the Economics of Labels: How Their Introduction Affects the Functioning of Markets and the Welfare of All Participants," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 97(1), pages 239-259.
    35. Stéphan Marette, 2010. "Consumer confusion and multiple equilibria," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 30(2), pages 1120-1128.
    36. Becker, Mark W. & Bello, Nora M. & Sundar, Raghav P. & Peltier, Chad & Bix, Laura, 2015. "Front of pack labels enhance attention to nutrition information in novel and commercial brands," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 76-86.
    37. Balcombe, Kelvin & Fraser, Iain & Falco, Salvatore Di, 2010. "Traffic lights and food choice: A choice experiment examining the relationship between nutritional food labels and price," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 211-220, June.
    38. Bohm, Peter & Linden, Johan & Sonnegard, Joakim, 1997. "Eliciting Reservation Prices: Becker-DeGroot-Marschak Mechanisms vs. Markets," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(443), pages 1079-1089, July.
    39. Alessandro Bonanno & Rui Huang & Yizao Liu, 2015. "Editor's choice Simulating welfare effects of the European nutrition and health claims’ regulation: the Italian yogurt market," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 42(3), pages 499-533.
    40. Andreas C. Drichoutis & Panagiotis Lazaridis & Rodolfo M. Nayga, 2009. "Would consumers value food-away-from-home products with nutritional labels?," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(4), pages 550-575.
    41. Larissa Drescher & Jutta Roosen & Stephan Marette, 2014. "The effects of traffic light labels and involvement on consumer choices for food and financial products," Post-Print hal-01173022, HAL.
    42. Lusk, Jayson L. & Marette, Stephan, 2010. "Appendix to: Welfare Effects of Food Labels and Bans with Alternative Willingness to Pay Measures," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy Appendices 55428, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    43. John M. Crespi & St)phan Marette, 2001. "How Should Food Safety Certification be Financed?," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 83(4), pages 852-861.
    44. Laurent Muller & Anne Lacroix & Jayson L. Lusk & Bernard Ruffieux, 2017. "Distributional Impacts of Fat Taxes and Thin Subsidies," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(604), pages 2066-2092, September.
    45. Ynte Dam & Janneke Jonge, 2015. "The Positive Side of Negative Labelling," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 19-38, March.
    46. Brian E. Roe & Mario F. Teisl & Corin R. Deans, 2014. "The Economics of Voluntary Versus Mandatory Labels," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 407-427, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Francisco Scott & Juan P. Sesmero, 2022. "Market and welfare effects of quality misperception in food labels," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 104(5), pages 1747-1769, October.
    2. Alexander J. Stein & Marcelo Lima, 2022. "Sustainable food labelling: considerations for policy-makers," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, Springer, vol. 103(2), pages 143-160, June.
    3. Gustafson, Christopher R. & Meerza, Syed Imran Ali, 2023. "The Impact of Information on Valuation in Experimental Auctions: A Comparison of Between and Within Subject Designs," OSF Preprints 3g4m5, Center for Open Science.
    4. M. G. Ceravolo & V. Farina & L. Fattobene & L. Leonelli & G. Raggetti, 2021. "Gender-Related Variability in Information Processing of Disclosure Documents," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 217-233, June.
    5. Santa, Juana Castro & Drews, Stefan, 2023. "Heuristic processing of green advertising: Review and policy implications," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).

    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. Anne-Célia Disdier & Stéphan Marette, 2012. "Taxes, minimum-quality standards and/or product labeling to improve environmental quality and welfare: Experiments can provide answers," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 337-357, June.
    2. Marette Stéphan & Roosen Jutta & Blanchemanche Sandrine, 2011. "The Combination of Lab and Field Experiments for Benefit-Cost Analysis," Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, De Gruyter, vol. 2(3), pages 1-36, August.
    3. Marette, Stephan, 2017. "Quality, market mechanisms and regulation in the food chain," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 5(3), February.
    4. Stéphan Marette & John Beghin & Anne‐Célia Disdier & Eliza Mojduszka, 2023. "Can foods produced with new plant engineering techniques succeed in the marketplace? A case study of apples," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 45(1), pages 414-435, March.
    5. Yokessa, Maïmouna & Marette, Stéphan, 2019. "A Review of Eco-labels and their Economic Impact," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 13(1-2), pages 119-163, April.
    6. Marette, Stéphan & Millet, Guy, 2014. "Economic benefits from promoting linseed in the diet of dairy cows for reducing methane emissions and improving milk quality," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 140-149.
    7. Stéphan Marette & Françoise Guéraud & Fabrice H.F. Pierre, 2021. "Regulation and Consumer Interest in an Antioxidant-Enriched Ham Associated with Reduced Colorectal Cancer Risks [Réglementation et intérêt des consommateurs pour un jambon enrichi en antioxydants a," Post-Print hal-03219714, HAL.
    8. Disdier, Anne-Célia & Marette, Stéphan, 2012. "How do consumers in developed countries value the environment and workers’ social rights in developing countries?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 1-11.
    9. Stéphan Marette & Jayson L. Lusk & Jutta Roosen, 2010. "Welfare Impact of Information with Experiments: The Crucial Role of the Price Elasticity of Demand," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 30(2), pages 1585-1593.
    10. Frank van Tongeren & John Beghin & Stéphane Marette, 2009. "A Cost-Benefit Framework for the Assessment of Non-Tariff Measures in Agro-Food Trade," OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Papers 21, OECD Publishing.
    11. Rousu, Matthew C. & Marette, Stéphan & Thrasher, James F. & Lusk, Jayson L., 2014. "The economic value to smokers of graphic warning labels on cigarettes: Evidence from combining market and experimental auction data," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 123-134.
    12. Castellari Elena & Marette Stéphan & Moro Daniele & Sckokai Paolo, 2019. "The Impact of Information on Willingness to Pay and Quantity Choices for Meat and Meat Substitute," Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, De Gruyter, vol. 17(1), pages 1-16, May.
    13. Ay, Jean-Sauveur & Chakir, Raja & Marette, Stephan, 2014. "Does living close to a vineyard increase the willingness-to-pay for organic and local wine?," 2014 International Congress, August 26-29, 2014, Ljubljana, Slovenia 183075, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    14. Maïmouna Yokessa & Stéphan Marette, 2019. "A Tax Coming from the IPCC Carbon Prices Cannot Change Consumption: Evidence from an Experiment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-20, September.
    15. Marette, Stéphan & Messéan, Antoine & Millet, Guy, 2012. "Consumers’ willingness to pay for eco-friendly apples under different labels: Evidences from a lab experiment," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 151-161.
    16. Fabrice Etilé, 2019. "The Economics of Diet and Obesity: Public Policy," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) hal-02154445, HAL.
    17. Jean-Sauveur Ay & Raja Chakir & Stephan Marette, 2017. "Distance Decay in the Willingness to Pay for Wine: Disentangling Local and Organic Attributes," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 68(4), pages 997-1019, December.
    18. Savchenko, Olesya M. & Kecinski, Maik & Li, Tongzhe & Messer, Kent D. & Xu, Huidong, 2018. "Fresh foods irrigated with recycled water: A framed field experiment on consumer responses," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 103-112.
    19. Irz, Xavier & Mazzocchi, Mario & Réquillart, Vincent & Soler, Louis-Georges, 2015. "Research in Food Economics: past trends and new challenges," Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement, Editions NecPlus, vol. 96(01), pages 187-237, March.
    20. Rousu, Matthew C. & Nonnemaker, James & Farrelly, Matthew, 2009. "The Value of Countermarketing Information to Smokers: Evidence from Field Auctions," 2009 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, 2009, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 49219, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Experimental economics; Consumers’ behaviour; Nutrition; Traffic lights; Regulation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C9 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments
    • D8 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty
    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health

    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:kap:jcopol:v:42:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s10603-019-09420-5. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.