Consumer valuation of health attributes for soy-based food: A choice modeling approach

Given that soy foods possess health-promoting attributes that offer the promise of reducing heart-related chronic diseases, this article employs choice experiments to estimate marginal willingness to pay (WTP) for soy attributes including taste, contents of soy protein, and health claim. Random parameter logit (RPL) models were estimated in consideration of potential heterogeneity across individuals in their preferences for soy food. Standard deviation parameters in the RPL models are highly significant, indicating that individuals have widely varying preferences for soy-based food products. Results suggest that, while taste is the dominating attribute that drives consumers’ WTP for soy food products, consumers do respond to the information provided in the health claim. Yet, consumers do not seem to be recognizing soy protein as the link to health benefits of soy foods.     

Impact of health-related claims on the perception of other product attributes

New EU legislation (EU Regulation 1924/2006) will allow a number of nutrition and health claims in food products. The objective of this research was to study how health claims affect consumers’ perception of other product attributes. A survey with a total of 4612 respondents from the Nordic countries explored consumers’ perceptions of attractiveness, healthiness, naturalness, tastiness and ability to reduce risk of disease by comparing ratings of products with and without health claims. Used claims varied in their benefit, active ingredient, claim structure and framing. The results showed that health claims had a moderate but mostly negative impact on the perception of other product attributes; the most significant impact was decrease in perceived naturalness. Consumers could also interpret the benefits in claims as intended. The wording of the claim had only small impact on the perception of the products, whereas earlier market presence of the ingredient had a large impact: differences among the Nordic countries reflected the previous exposure to health claims. The findings from this study suggest that consumers do not imply other health benefits from health claims and the health claim per se is not likely to cause any unrealistic positive inferences in perceived product quality.     

Front-label health claims: when less is more

Growing global attention has been directed toward labeling the ingredients, processing methods, and health claims of food. Accompanying this attention is an interest in how consumers process or understand the information on such labels. This article examines how the length of a front-label claim influences the nutritional beliefs and evaluation of a product when used in combination with complete back-label information. The results indicate that the presence of a shorter health claim on the front of the package (in combination with a more complete claim on the back) leads a person to generate more attribute-specific thoughts about the product and fewer general evaluative thoughts compared to longer health claims. These shorter health claims also led to more favorable beliefs about the product and to a more positive image of the product. This article concludes with a discussion of the implications of the findings for policy makers, consumers and researchers.     

The evolution of language complexity in qualified health claims

In the US, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has oversight for qualified health claims (QHCs). These claims emerged as the result of a legal dispute about commercial speech rights on dietary supplements and food products. The initial court ruling allowed manufacturers to include diet–disease information on packaging, when supporting evidence does not meet the traditional threshold of Significant Scientific Agreement. QHCs communicate about a potential health benefit of the consumption of a food or supplement, and due to their nature, are required to specify the balance of evidence behind the diet–disease relationships. As a result, the language contained in QHCs is complex, making them difficult for consumers to understand. The language has been further complicated by a continuing series of court challenges about how scientific evidence is described in QHCs. To understand the evolution of QHC language, we review the progression of court rulings surrounding qualified health claims and subsequent regulations by the FDA. This analysis provides a case study of the challenging task of effective science communication within a dynamic food litigation and policy environment.     

Australian consumer attitudes to health claim – food product compatibility for functional foods

This study with Australian consumers investigated how appealing different health claims combined with particular food carriers were to Australian consumers, and compared the results of a similar study with Dutch consumers. 149 shoppers considered up to 30 different food concepts, rating how ‘attractive’, ‘believable’, and ‘new and different’ they found each concept and their ‘intention to try’. Each variable was significantly related to intention to try (p < 0.001) and together explained 56% of the intention score. Claims and carriers independently had a significant effect on ratings of attractiveness and intention to try but, unlike the Dutch study, the carrier was a more important predictor of intention to purchase than the claim. Implications for regulation of health claims for food are discussed.     

Genetically modified food labeling: The impacts of message and messenger on consumer perceptions of labels and products

We analyze responses to a survey designed to elicit consumer reaction to various approaches to labeling genetically modified (GM) foods. Consumers were shown sample labels that differed with respect to claims concerning the presence and potential effects of GM ingredients and the agency that certified these claims. A sample of 1898 US consumers rated 3681 labels with regard to the credibility and adequacy of the information content, with regard to perceived health and environmental impacts of the product and with regard to purchase intent. Simple claims that a product contains GM ingredients are viewed as most credible while simple claims of no GM content are viewed as most adequate. Label claims certified by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are, in general, viewed as most credible and adequate and products with FDA certified claims are perceived to have fewer long-term health problems. Several practical policy implications of the results are discussed, including how different label messages may impact consumer reactions in markets involving GM products.     

Risking public health by approving some health claims? – The case of phosphorus

There is a well-established consensus on the many biological functions of essential nutrients, and related general function health claims will be soon authorised in the European Union. Such claims about the role of nutrients in the body’s growth, development and functioning could provide a powerful marketing tool and significant increase in the consumption of specific food products. Even though these claims are scientifically substantiated, there are both health and ethical concerns about whether such claims should be allowed where the intake of these nutrients easily exceeds the recommendations and a bigger intake might have adverse affects. The case of phosphorus and its role in the maintenance of normal bone is discussed.     

Time preferences and food choices: Evidence from a choice experiment

Time preferences have been recognized by numerous studies as an important driver of a number of healthy and environmentally-friendly behaviors. In this study, we first examined if healthy and environmentally-friendly food labels (e.g., USDA organic, carbon trust, health claim, and calories) are relevant in driving food choices. Second, using the Consideration of Future Consequences (CFC) scale we analyzed if individuals with different time preferences have different choice behavior and valuations in relation to these labels. Results indicate that consumers value both healthy and environmentally-friendly attributes displayed on labels. Results also suggest that time preferences can significantly influence consumers’ valuation for the USDA organic label, the presence of health claims and the calorie amount attribute.     

European consumer preferences for beef with nutrition and health claims: A multi-country investigation using discrete choice experiments

The European Union (EU) nutrition labelling policy aims to facilitate consumers’ food choice, stimulate innovation and facilitate the circulation of foods bearing claims across countries. However, the beef industry has not fully taken advantage of utilizing nutrition and health claims based on the EU nutrition labelling policy to differentiate beef products in the market. This study investigates consumer preferences for nutrition and health claims on lean beef steak. Two choice experiments were conducted among 2400 beef consumers in four EU countries (Belgium, France, the Netherlands, United and United Kingdom). Multinomial logit and error component models were estimated. Our results generally suggest that consumer valuation of nutritional and health claims varies across countries. In Belgium, the Netherlands and France, nutrition and health claims on saturated fat yielded higher utilities than claims on protein and/or iron, while the opposite was found among consumers in the UK. The results imply that marketing opportunities related to nutrition and health claims on beef are promising, but that different nutritional marketing strategies are necessary within different countries.     

A note on the relationship between managerial change values,innovative intentions and innovative technology outcomes in food sector firms

In this study three, two-part propositions were developed based on a general model of how organizational variables moderate the influence of individual change values on innovative intentions and how these same organizational factors moderate the impact of individual innovative intentions on organizational innovative outcomes. A total of 66 respondents, mostly top managers in food processing and food equipment and packaging firms, returned questionnaires. Results indicated that the absence of technical specialist concentration significantly (p <.05) increased the correlation between managerial change values and innovative intentions. Organization size and diversification into nonfood markets did not significantly moderate the correlation between managerial change values and innovative intentions although results were in the predicted direction. Managerial innovative intentions were significantly (p <.05) more likely to be correlated with the rate of new products introduction, and the rate of adoption of incremental process innovation when technical specialists were concentrated. Managerial innovative intentions were significantly (p <.05) more likely to be correlated with the rate of new production introduction and the adoption of radical (new to the industry) process innovation in firms that had diversified into nonfood markets. Critical incident accounts by respondents of creative or innovative episodes in their organizations are strongly correlated with indicators of slack resources for innovation, and the skills managers develop to identify and back innovators in their firms are discussed.