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This study aims to examine the effects of front-of-package (FoP) labels on the healthy evaluation of Peruvian consumers. This relationship was examined in cases where snacks were healthy and unhealthy. In addition, the study included the role of three consumer purchase objectives (i.e. hedonic, healthy and weight loss) and two types of consumers (high and low use of labelling) in the healthy evaluation.

The sample consisted of 628 Peruvian youngsters aged between 16 and 24 years who frequently consume processed food. The research panel “QueOpinas” oversaw the recruitment of the participants through social media and television. Four types of FoP labels were studied in depth: Nutritional Warnings, Monochrome Guideline Daily Amount (GDA), Polychrome Guideline Daily Amount (GDA-Semaphore) and Traffic Light Labelling. A paired sample t-test and MANOVA were performed to evaluate the research objectives.

The GDA FoP label was found to be insufficient to promote a healthy evaluation. In contrast, the Nutritional Warnings and GDA-Semaphore and Traffic Light FoP labels had a significant and positive effect on the healthy evaluation of the snacks at a 95% confidence level. However, a comparative analysis of the labels revealed that some can be more efficient than others in promoting healthy purchase decisions. For the nutritional warnings (NWs) and traffic light FoP labels, the results revealed that consumers better distinguish unhealthy and healthy cereal bars when these products display traffic light labels.

This research topic has not been investigated in Peru and relevant research in this region is still incipient. In addition, the findings are important for policymakers as the findings will be able to implement specific labelling systems that will help consumers make healthier choices and support the debate about the effectiveness of the main FoP systems.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse how the nutritional traffic light can reduce consumers’ intention to purchase unhealthy food by eliciting negative emotions (i.e. fear and guilt). The work also examines the moderating role of income in the above-mentioned relationships.

The empirical study was conducted in Ecuador. In an initial phase, exploratory research was carried out with two focus groups. Then a quasi-experiment was conducted with 330 participants following a 3×2 design, in which the nutritional traffic light for a dairy product (green, yellow, red) and the variable income (high and low income) were manipulated.

Traffic light colours (red, yellow and green) significantly influence consumers’ levels of fear and guilt as well as their intention to purchase. Income has also been found to have a moderating effect on the above relationships.

Further understanding of how nutritional labels influence consumer behaviour may have beneficial effects for public authorities attempting to improve citizens’ health and for society as a whole. It may also help firms that produce and market packaged foods to be aware of what type of foods new consumers want and adapt their offering in consequence.

The main contribution of this work is the analysis of the influence of the nutritional traffic light on emotions, namely, fear and guilt and how these emotions lead consumers to control their consumption of unhealthy foods. In addition, the present work proposes the moderating effect of income on the influence of colour on emotions and purchase intention.

This study aimed to examine the perceptions and preferences of Brazilian adult consumers about four different front-of-pack (FOP) food labeling systems proposed by the Brazilian National Health Regulatory Agency.

This is a qualitative study conducted with 33 participants allocated in six focus groups. Four different types of FOP labels were displayed on processed and packaged bread: three interpretive warning labels (black triangle, black octagon and red ellipse) and a hybrid model (nutritional traffic light). Thematic analysis was used to identify the key topics addressed by participants.

Three topics were identified: label design, clarity and precision of information. The results demonstrated an influence of labels on product development and consumers' food choices. Most participants expressed a preference for black warning labels and reported the importance of statements endorsed by the Ministry of Health, which provide credibility and could influence food choices. Furthermore, participants agreed that the traffic light system provides more information but is difficult to interpret when comparing products. Warning labels were reported to have the greatest influence on purchase decisions. However, participants were concerned about how to understand the lack of warning labels on some products.

The results may help and support the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency to identify and recommend the most effective FOP labeling system to be adopted in Brazil.

Few studies investigating adult consumers' perceptions of different FOP label formats have been conducted in the Brazilian context. Our study contributes to the small pool of evidence on the topic by demonstrating that FOP labels can be helpful for consumers when they are presented in an intuitive, interpretative and trustworthy format.

To distinguish between the use of Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs) for labelling purposes and traffic‐light labelling and to demonstrate the advantages of GDAs over traffic lights.

The advantages of GDAs are laid out along with the disadvantages of traffic‐light labelling.

The background to the development of GDAs and the FSA traffic light scheme, currently being consumer tested, is explained. The Food and Drink Federation recommend that GDAs will be of more value to consumers as opposed to traffic lights, as the GDA system will help individuals to build up a balanced diet which is appropriate for them. However, education on how to use GDAs will be vital, and this is already under way.

A traffic‐light system is a very simplistic subjective approach to signpost labelling and makes it hard to convey the true nutritional value of a food. For this reason it may mislead consumers. GDAs are more objective and will help inform and educate consumers on how to eat a balanced diet.

The paper seeks to lay out the concept of GDAs and why it is a labelling concept that will help consumers with their diet. It should be of interest to those working in the food industry, health professionals, food and health academics and anyone who communicates messages about food and health or indeed consumes packaged food.

Nutrition labels provide a cost-effective method of conveying nutrition information to consumers. This study aimed to assess the use of nutrition facts panels, knowledge of traffic light labelling (TLL) and perceived healthiness of food items using TLL among consumers.

A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted among adults in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (n = 1,322). TLL knowledge score was derived for each participant. Conjoint analysis was used to calculate the utilities and relative importance of the perceived healthiness scores for four attributes (fat, saturated fat, total sugar, salt) at the aggregate level.

Participants had a positive attitude towards TLL but were less familiar with TLL than the nutrition facts panel (47.4 vs 85.8%). The mean TLL knowledge score was 3.6 out of 7 (51.6%). Younger age, higher education, higher income, and health-related qualifications were associated with higher scores. Conjoint analysis showed that participants tend to choose products with greener labels, especially for sugars (80.1%) and avoid red labels for fats. Sugars had the highest percentage value of relative importance compared to the other attributes (27.1%).

The study outcomes offer valuable insights into the extent of consumer awareness, comprehension and utilization of nutrition facts panels in the UAE. These findings contribute essential knowledge for a deeper understanding of the impact of nutrition labels on consumer behaviour and decision-making in the region.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of different menu labelling formats on healthy food choices in a real restaurant setting.

This cross-sectional, randomised and controlled parallel-group trial was conducted in Brazil in 2013. In total, 313 university students were randomly assigned to one of three parallel groups with different menu labelling formats. Of these, data from 233 students were analysed. The others did not attend and were excluded. Intervention Group 1 (n=88) received information in the form of a traffic light plus guideline daily amounts, while Intervention Group 2 (n=74) was presented with ingredients list plus highlighted symbols (IL+S). The control group (n=71) received a menu with no menu labelling. Data were collected on one weekday in a restaurant setting. Trial outcomes were assessed by healthy food choices.

Healthy food choices of students who received the menu showing IL+S were significantly higher when compared to the other groups. This same menu labelling format positively affected healthy food choices in women, not overweight participants and in participants who often ate out more than twice a week.

Menu labelling format presenting ingredients list and highlighted symbols was positively associated with healthy food choices among the university students in Brazil. This type of labelling could be adopted in future legislation on menu labelling in Brazil and around the world.

The fast-food market is one area which faces little regulation of visible nutritional information on menus and food packaging to encourage healthy food choices. Additionally, nutritional information’s effectiveness is mostly unknown in the fast-food market. The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the effectiveness of various forms of nutritional labelling methods and information by analysing the consumer decision-making process of 248 fast-food consumers.

Three discrete choice experiments are used to compare three popular nutritional symbol methods. Consumer preferences for these symbols are extracted using a “choice-based” conjoint analysis, while controlling for price and branding of fast-food products.

It is found that a very simple “traffic light signal” is the best signal for suggesting healthiness, with as much as 41 per cent of the importance in consumer decision making (p<0.01), over that of product pricing and even product brand and performs better than more information laden guided daily amounts symbols and health endorsement methods (attributing 27 and 13 per cent in their respective studies). This highlights the fine balance between too much and too little food nutrition information and (most notably) how specific nutritional information methods can be even more influential on food choices than a change in product price might.

There is currently a lack of research into the use of nutritional cues on influencing fast-food choices. Additionally, most previous studies focus on the isolated effect of nutrition labels.

To encourage sustainable consumer practices, public policy makers introduce new ecological measures, including mandatory programmes that require companies to provide environmental information about their products, even if the information is not flattering. Few academic studies consider the potential impacts of such mandatory eco-labels on consumer behaviour; the purpose of this paper is to seek to identify conditions in which a generalized eco-label in stores might modify consumers’ purchase choices.

Two quasi-experimental studies (n=333, 126) manipulate environmental information with a simple, traffic light – shaped eco-label. The measures focus on respondents’ choice or purchasing intentions, perceptions of the environmental harmfulness of each product, and individual characteristics (i.e. environmental concern, price sensitivity, familiarity with environmental information about the product category).

The presence of an eco-label influences consumers’ beliefs about products’ environmental harm and thus choice. The effect of perceived harmfulness on choice is moderated by environmental concern and price sensitivity, though combined effects arise for only one of the two product categories tested (dish soap, not yoghurt). With a third product category (paper towels), Study 2 confirms the influence of familiarity with environmental information.

Familiarity with environmental information accounts for some differences across product categories, but other factors also come into play. These results must be interpreted carefully due to the use of a fictive eco-label.

This paper examines the potential effects of a generalized, mandatory programme. It also addresses the lack of consistent label effectiveness across product categories, with a possible explanation based on perceived familiarity with environmental information.

Advances have been made in the provision of nutritional and ingredient information on packaged food, however, there is a need to translate this to eating out reflecting consumer desire for greater transparency and knowledge of menu content. The purpose of this paper is to assess consumer’s preferences for food information presentation in four European countries (UK, Greece, Denmark and France) in a workplace dining setting.

This study focusses on workplace canteens since the regularity in which they are used provides an important context and potential for behaviour change. An exploratory phase designed iteratively in collaboration with experts, end-users and researchers (qualitative) informed a survey (quantitative) conducted in four European countries. The survey was used to examine workplace diners’ preferences towards food information presentation.

Differences were found and clustered (n=5) to “heuristic processors” (33 per cent) “brand orientated” (25 per cent) “systematic processors” (17.3 per cent) “independent processors” (16.1 per cent) and “tech-savvy” (8.6 per cent). Dual-process theories were used to analyse the findings and produce new insight into how menu information can be most effectively delivered.

When eating-out consumers struggle to make choices or make the wrong choice from a health perspective, partly caused by a lack of nutrient profile information as well as other criteria of concern. Giving catering managers the understanding of preferred communication channels can enable a more competitive operator. Traffic light labelling was the optimal presentation with the opportunity for consumers to discover more detailed information if desired. For the first time this research has given operational clarity whilst allowing food providers to be considered as part of corporate health.

Reducing food-related greenhouse gas emissions is one of the major tasks in the future, as food causes one-third of global emissions. Influencing customers' purchasing decisions towards low-carbon food is thus decisive. Nudging has been proven to be an adequate mechanism to influence people towards sustainable food choices. Another relatively new approach is boosting, which promotes people's education, inducing autonomous decision-making. In the context of sustainable food, research on nudging and boosting is still at the beginning. Therefore, this chapter conducts a systematic literature review to identify, classify and assess the potential of cognitively oriented nudges and boosts towards sustainable food choices. The sample consists of 217 English-speaking papers published between 2011 and 2021. After three filtering steps, 21 scientific journal publications remained in the data extraction form. All articles are field experiments, comprising descriptive labelling, evaluative labelling, and visibility enhancements. The analysis shows that menu restructurings (e.g. placing a vegetarian option on the top of the menu) in restaurants are the most effective intervention to reshape customers' demands. Evaluative labels (e.g. traffic-light labels on the menu or product packaging) are the second most effective measure. They help people understand eco-related information and thus make better decisions. The effect of descriptive labels seemed small, as they provide no meaningful frame assisting people in processing the data. In conclusion, the research recommends applying cognitively oriented nudges and boosts to promote sustainable food choices and deduces practical implications for appropriate implementation and marketing.