Marketing Nutrition: Soy, Functional Foods, Biotechnology, and Obesity

12. Health Claims: When Less Equals More

twelve Health฀Claims:฀When฀Less฀Equals฀More Should we make health claims lengthy and complete or catchy and quick? A longer, more complete health claim is most accurate, but a shorter one can be more easily processedandmore persuasive. The concernsoverFood and Drug Administration (FDA) claims being accurate but misunderstood are well founded. Although the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act was intended to make food labels more useful and informative, consumers still do not always comprehend nutritional information. Many are skeptical of health claims, and they believe such claims are incomplete, misleading, or trivial. Part of the problem may be the way in which such information is formatted. In some cases too much information overwhelms consumers, and in other cases too little misleads them. In general, consumers are thought to view front label information as a summary of a product’s benefits or hazards. Presumably, if they found interesting or important information incompletely described on the front of a product, they would be motivated to seek clarification on other parts of the package. Unfortunately, some consumers who are casually skimming a front label might take away only a top-line summary. The more difficult this front label information is to comprehend quickly, the more likely it is to be ignored or misinterpreted. Nutrition-conscious consumers may be more likely to examine all sides of a package in detail. Effective nutrition labels should take both less-involved and more-involved shoppers into account. One way to address the different information needs of 12.150-158_Wans.indd฀฀฀150 3/30/05฀฀฀2:57:27฀PM When฀Less฀Equals฀More • 151 both groups would be to print health claim information on both the front and back labels of a package. One combination of information that might be appropriate for a wide range of consumers would involve back panel information that provides complete nutritional details and front panel information that provides a brief summary of these details. In such a case, a casual shopper could skim the front and have a basic understanding of the claim, and a more involved shopper could find detailed information on the back of the package . The presence of a short claim on the front label makes it easier to process attribute-specific product information. To the extent that this information is unambiguous, it should improve the persuasiveness of the health claims. Becauseweknowthathealthclaimsonthefrontpanelofapackagecan influencepurchasebehavior,thequestionbecomeshowmuchfrontpanel information is needed to persuasively communicate the health benefits or hazards of a product. After reviewing how nutrition label information might be processed, I compare consumers who are exposed to different health claim combinations on the front and back of labels. How฀Do฀Consumers฀Read฀Labels? Labeling can influence perceptions, preferences, prepurchase expectations , and posttrial evaluations, but too much information can lead consumers to become confused and to make poor decisions. Understanding the ideal amount of purchase-relevant information has been a major concern of both policymakers and marketing researchers. The value of label information hinges on the availability, complexity, and relevance of the information provided to consumers through packaging and advertising. If too much information is provided to consumers in a complicated format, they are less likely to use it effectively. There has been concern that as labels become more complicated, people pay less attention to them. Indeed, a HealthFocus (2003) study investigated how important labels were in communicating information about fat, calories, sugar, sodium, and other characteristics (Figure 12.1). In all of these categories, the percentage of people who said that a label’s claim was an extremely or very important source of information has steadily dropped since 1994. Less than 40 percent viewed labels as important sources of information. Consumers may ignore excessive amounts of information.However, 12.150-158_Wans.indd฀฀฀151 3/30/05฀฀฀2:57:27฀PM 152 • labeling that actually works if consumers view front panel information as a summary of the package, simplified, shorter claims on the front panel may make health claims more easily understood and more persuasive. A concern with long health claims is that people do not understand them, and a concern of short health claims is that people can be misled by them. Having a short claim on the front can give all consumers a general idea of the health claim, and it prompts interested consumers to evaluate the full claim information on back. Because some people are likely to ignore a longer...