Scot Burton

Making Healthful Food Choices: The Influence of Health Claims and Nutrition Information on Consumers’ Evaluations of Packaged Food Products and Restaurant Menu Items

The authors report the results of three experiments that address the effects of health claims and nutrition information placed on restaurant menus and packaged food labels. The results indicate that when favorable nutrition information or health claims are presented, consumers have more favorable attitudes toward the product, nutrition attitudes, and purchase intentions, and they perceive risks of heart disease and stroke to be lower. The nutritional context in which a restaurant menu item is presented moderates the effects of both nutrition information and a health claim on consumer evaluations, which suggests that alternative (i.e., nontarget) menu items serve as a frame of reference against which the target menu item is evaluated.

A Scale for Measuring Attitude toward Private Label Products and an Examination of its Psychological and Behavioral Correlates

A measure of consumers’ attitude toward private label brands is developed, and its psychometric properties are assessed. Predictions are then tested regarding relationships between private label attitude and (1) latent perceptual and sales promotion constructs, and (2) purchase behaviors measured in a field setting. The measure is positively related to value consciousness, deal proneness, and smart-shopper self-perceptions, and negatively related to the propensity to be brand loyal and hold price-quality perceptions. Predictive validity of the private label measure is supported by a positive relationship with private label purchases from a grocery store shopping trip. Despite a positive relationship between the latent constructs of private label attitude and deal proneness, the consumer segment that allocated a high percentage of total purchases to private label products made fewer purchases on sale or with a coupon. These findings suggest that consumers may choose between price-related deals and private label purchases.

Cognitive Processes Used by Survey Respondents to Answer Behavioral Frequency Questions

Behavioral frequency questions are a common and important part of consumer surveys. The conventional model of how people answer such questions and how response errors occur has presumed that respondents recall and enumerate specific behavioral episodes. Recent laboratory research, however, has shown that respondents use a variety of processes in answering such questions. Results of this study confirm this finding in a field setting and show that task conditions impact response formulation processes. These results indicate that new models are needed for complete understanding of response errors in frequency data for a variety of behaviors of interest to consumer researchers.

Antecedents of private label attitude and national brand promotion attitude: similarities and differences

Abstract A model that addresses the similarities and differences in conceptual antecedents of attitudes toward private label grocery products and national brand promotions is proposed and tested. The proposed model is tested using a sample of 300 consumers who were recruited from grocery stores, provided behavioral data from sales receipts of their shopping trip, and responded to a survey that contained multi-item construct measures. We predict and find in the study that both price and nonprice related constructs impact both private label attitude and national brand promotion attitude, but the directionality and strength of several of these relationships differ. Implications of these findings for retailers and national manufacturers are discussed.

Effects of Nutrition Facts Panel Values, Nutrition Claims, and Health Claims on Consumer Attitudes, Perceptions of Disease-Related Risks, and Trust

In a between-subjects experiment, the authors examine how differences in Nutrition Facts information on fat and fiber, coupled with differing claims for these nutrients (including multiple nutrient claims and a health claim), influence consumers’ product evaluations, perceptions and awareness of disease risk, and trust of the claims and Nutrition Facts information. Results show that the Nutrition Facts information regarding fat affects consumers’ evaluations and perceptions of disease risk but that information on fiber does not. Claims do not affect product evaluations or purchase intentions, and there is a weak effect of inclusion of a health claim on disease risk perceptions. Consumers are less likely to recognize incongruencies in claim and Nutrition Facts information about fiber than fat. Incongruencies regarding the level of fat in the product result in lower trust in the claim information but do not affect trust in the Nutrition Facts data. The authors discuss implications for consumer welfare and public policy.

Assessing the Domain Specificity of Deal Proneness: A Field Study

Results of two studies designed to assess the manner in which the deal proneness construct is best conceptualized are presented. On the basis of a review of the sales promotion literature, three alternatives are identified: (1) deal proneness is a general construct that encompasses various deal types (i.e., a single deal proneness construct), (2) deal proneness is a domain-specific construct (e.g., coupon proneness, sale proneness, rebate proneness), or (3) deal proneness is a construct that includes only certain types of deals (e.g., price-oriented deals, active-oriented deals). Across both studies, operationalizations consistent with each of the alternatives are developed, confirmatory factor models consistent with each are comapred, and the predictive validity of the alternatives is assessed by relating operationalizations consistent with each alternative to a variety of deal-responsive behaviors collected unobtrusively in natural field settings. Results support treating deal proneness as a domain-specific construct. Copyright 1995 by the University of Chicago.

Are Some Comparative Nutrition Claims Misleading? The Role of Nutrition Knowledge, Ad Claim Type and Disclosure Conditions

Abstract As the regulator of all national food advertising, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has expressed concern that consumers may be misled by certain comparative nutrient content claims in advertising. To help examine this issue, primary food shoppers were recruited and interviewed in three U.S. markets according to generally accepted procedures for advertising copy tests. The study employs a 2 (ad claim type) x 2 (nutrition knowledge) x 4 (disclosure type) between-subjects design using manipulated print advertisements. Misleading generalizations for absolute levels of sodium content beyond that of control ads are found for both specific and general nutrient content claims from experimentally manipulated soup advertisements. Effects of certain ad disclosure types are found to be dependent on ad claim type and on nutrition knowledge levels. Conclusions from the study and implications for advertising practice and public policy are offered.

The Effect of Ad Claims and Ad Context on Attitude toward the Advertisement

Abstract This study examines the effect of one content and two contextual advertising manipulations on several measures of attitude toward the ad (Aad). Results indicate that such antecedent variables, each of which requires some degree of cognitive processing of information, can impact Aad in excess of their effects on perceptions of the value of the deal. Results also show that Aad is a significant predictor of attitude toward the deal after covarying out the experimental manipulations and perceptions of the value of the deal. Findings suggest that separate measures of cognitive and affective dimensions of Aad may be more appropriate than the single composite measures which have typically been employed by Aad researchers.

Understanding How Graphic Pictorial Warnings Work on Cigarette Packaging

The 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act requires cigarette packages to contain stronger warnings in the form of color, graphic pictures depicting the negative health consequences of smoking. The authors present results from a between-subjects experiment with more than 500 smokers that test (1) the effectiveness of pictorial warnings that vary in their graphic depiction of the warning and (2) an underlying mechanism proposed to drive potential effects of the manipulation of the graphic depiction. The findings indicate that more graphic pictorial warning depictions strengthen smokers’ intentions to quit smoking. Recall of warning message statements is reduced by moderately or highly graphic pictures compared with a no-picture control or less graphic pictures. The results also show that the graphic warnings affect evoked fear, and in turn, fear mediates the effects of the graphic warning depiction on intentions to quit for the sample of smokers. This pattern of results indicates that though highly graphic pictures may reduce specific message recall and limit the direct effect of recall on intentions to quit, highly graphic pictures increase intentions to quit smoking through evoked fear (i.e., fear fully mediates the effect of the graphic depiction level). The authors discuss implications for consumer health and policy decisions.

Is Simpler Always Better? Consumer Evaluations of Front-of-Package Nutrition Symbols

Consumers of packaged goods products in the United States recently have faced an onslaught of front-of-package (FOP) nutrition symbols and icons, including the controversial “Smart Choices” single summary indicator. In a between-subjects experiment with 520 adult consumers, the authors compare effects of the Smart Choices (SC) icon, the more complex Traffic Light–Guideline Daily Amounts (TL-GDAs) icon, and a no-FOP icon control for a nutritionally moderate food that qualifies for the SC icon. Drawing from principles of heuristic processing and halo effects, the authors predict and find that the SC icon can lead to positive (and potentially misleading) nutrient evaluations and product healthfulness when compared with the TL-GDA icon or no-FOP icon control. When the Nutrition Facts Panel is not available, the TL-GDA icon results in substantially greater nutrition accuracy scores than with the SC icon or control. The authors also find that nutrition consciousness is more likely to moderate effects related to the Nutrition Facts Panel than the FOP nutrition icon information. Implications are offered for public health officials, nutrition researchers, and food manufacturers, as the Food and Drug Administration considers FOP nutrition alternatives for use in the United States.