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Going healthy: how product characteristics influence the sales impact of front-of-pack health symbols

Author

Listed:
  • Stijn Maesen

    (Imperial College London Business School)

  • Lien Lamey

    (KU Leuven)

  • Anne ter Braak

    (Maastricht University)

  • Léon Jansen

    (Schuttelaar & Partners and Scientific Secretary of the Dutch Choices Foundation)

Abstract

Manufacturers increasingly adopt health symbols, which translate overall product healthiness into a single symbol, to communicate about the overall healthiness of their grocery products. This study examines how the performance implications of adding a front-of-pack health symbol to a product vary across products. We study the sales impact of a government-supported health symbol program in 29 packaged categories, using over four years of scanner data. The results indicate that health symbols are most impactful when they positively disconfirm pre-existing beliefs that a product is not among the healthiest products within the category. More specifically, we find that health symbols are more effective for (i) products with a front-of-pack taste claim, (ii) lower priced products, and (iii) private label products. Furthermore, these results are more pronounced in healthier categories than in unhealthier categories. Our findings imply that health symbols can help overcome lay beliefs among consumers regarding a product’s overall healthiness. As such, adding a health symbol provides easy-to-process information about product healthiness for the consumer and can increase product sales for the manufacturer.

Suggested Citation

  • Stijn Maesen & Lien Lamey & Anne ter Braak & Léon Jansen, 2022. "Going healthy: how product characteristics influence the sales impact of front-of-pack health symbols," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 108-130, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joamsc:v:50:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1007_s11747-021-00796-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s11747-021-00796-w
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    3. Abhishek Borah & Francesca Bonetti & Angelito Calma & José Martí-Parreño, 2023. "The Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science at 50: A historical analysis," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 51(1), pages 222-243, January.

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