The Impact of Health Claims in Different Product Categories

Abstract

There has been little research about which combinations of health claims, food product categories, and nutrient enrichment labellings are most appealing to consumers. This paper tests whether specific product group differences exist for health claims and ingredient labellings based on the food additive Xanthohumol. To analyze preference heterogeneity, differences between consumers with a high, medium, or low preference for organic food products were considered. For data collection, an online-based discrete choice experiment was applied in Germany for the product categories milk, yoghurt, water, cola, and chocolate. The choice experiments were analyzed with multinomial and mixed logit models. Positive effects for the considered health claims that are based on the effect of the food additive Xanthohumol could be found for water, milk, and yoghurt. The comparison of the different organic consumer segments revealed that respondents with a medium preference for organic food products show the highest preference for the considered health claims.