Causes, Consequences and Solutions to Food Consumption Confusion

Consumers can face complex choices when it comes to food consumption. Indeed, food-related information can take various forms, such as injunctions (e.g., to eat healthy food), food advertising or signals on packaging (e.g., nutritional labels, product origin). In particular, the ecological, health and economic crises we are experiencing may create dilemmas between the collective and individual interests of consumers, indeed, the injunction to eat healthily is not necessarily reconcilable with buying on a budget. The hectic pace of life and hyperchoice context in which we purchase daily are worsening this confusion. This raises the question of how consumers manage all these injunctions, limits, and desires. To answer these questions, we refer to the concept of consumer confusion, defined as "a negatively valenced state of mind with emotional and c components in which consumers lack comprehension or understanding of marketplace stimuli" (Fitzgerald et al., 2019, p. 308). With a qualitative study gathering 19 in-depth semi-structured interviews, we propose a typology of causes and consequences of Food Consumption Confusion, as well as potential solutions. We contribute to the literatures of consumer confusion and cognitive dissonance, and provide managers and public-policy makers with relevant tools to deal with consumer confusion.