Shelf label nutrition information: Consumer preferences and behavior

Joshua Paul Berning

doi:10.7273/000005791

Motivated by a steady global increase in obesity and an increasing demand for healthy foods, a large number of different nutrition labels are being offered to consumers. Nutrition labels benefit consumers by increasing product knowledge, reducing search costs, and making it easier to identify healthier choices. Available nutrition labels provide varying amounts of nutrition information, however. Consumers have heterogeneous preferences for information and therefore respond differently to certain types of nutrition labels, making some labels more effective than others. This work contributes to the economics and marketing literatures by identifying consumer preferences for nutrition information provided on grocery store shelf labels and testing whether shelf label nutrition information affects consumer behavior. Choice experiments are used to elicit consumer preferences for nutrition information provided on grocery store shelf labels. The results of the choice experiments are analyzed using random parameters logit models. In general, consumers demonstrate a strong affinity for shelf label nutrition information; however, preferences vary between identified market segments. The presentation of the nutrition information significantly affects consumer preferences as well. In terms of the type of nutrition information provided, consumers have higher mean preferences for detailed nutrition labels over summary nutrition labels. There is a larger dispersion, however, of population preferences for the detailed information. While nutritionally conscious consumers prefer the detailed nutrition information, it may be more effective to provide shoppers who normally do not acquire nutrition information with summary labels. A field experiment is used to examine the effectiveness of nutrition information provided on grocery store shelf labels where effectiveness is measured in terms of how well shelf label nutrition information attracts attention and how it affects shopper behavior. We find that a highly prominent display of shelf label nutrition information attracts shopper attention and affects shopper behavior as well. The effect on behavior, however, is dependent on the type of product. Grocery stores that choose to offer their own nutrition labels can benefit from generating awareness of their efforts.

Shelf label nutrition information: Consumer preferences and behavior

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