Emolabeling Effectively Reduces the Influence of Ambiguous Labeling on Food Packages Among Grocery Store Shoppers

Privitera, Gregory J. and Brown, Caitlin J. and Gillespie, James J. (2014) Emolabeling Effectively Reduces the Influence of Ambiguous Labeling on Food Packages Among Grocery Store Shoppers. Global Journal of Health Science, 7 (4). ISSN 1916-9736

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Abstract

Despite increased regulations and policy enforcement for nutrition labeling, ambiguous labels on food items can still have deleterious effects on consumer perceptions of health. The present study used a counterbalanced within-subjects design to test if emolabeling—the use of emoticons to convey health information (happy = healthy; sad = not healthy)—will reduce the effects of ambiguous labels on consumer perceptions of the healthfulness of a food item. 85 grocery store shoppers were shown nutrition labels for a low calorie (LC) and a high calorie (HC) food with/without emolabels, and with an ambiguous label that either implied the food was healthy or unhealthy. Results showed that emolabels reduced the effectiveness of ambiguous labels: consumers rated the LC food as healthier and the HC food as less healthy when emolabels were added. The results suggest that, if implemented, this image-based emolabeling system could possibly be an effective buffer against the use of ambiguous labeling by food manufacturers.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: OA STM Library > Medical Science
Depositing User: Unnamed user with email support@oastmlibrary.com
Date Deposited: 05 May 2023 10:23
Last Modified: 28 Aug 2024 13:34
URI: http://geographical.openscholararchive.com/id/eprint/712

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