Examining the moderation of the relationship between socio-economic status and consumption intentions by food information labels.

Abstract

Front-of-package-labelling needs to portray health and/or sustainability information effectively to all consumers in a way that is both effective and equitable. There is mixed evidence for the effectiveness of such labels based on socioeconomic status (SES). Framing health consequences in an intuitive manner could help to reduce disparities in label comprehension across SES. We examined whether the relationships of SES (objective and subjective) with perceived healthiness and environmental friendliness of foods is moderated by the presentation of food label information. We also examined intentions to change consumption as an outcome. Participants (N = 901, age: M = 46.62 years) from the USA completed the study online. Participants were randomly assigned to view either no information (control), standard nutrition facts (nutrition), HENI scores (health), carbon footprint scores (environment), or both HENI and carbon footprint scores (combined). Participants rated 24 foods on their perception of healthiness, environmental friendliness, and intentions to increase/decrease consumption. There was no consistent interaction effect between SES and food labels on perceived healthiness or environmental friendliness. There were also no consistent interactions of SES and food labels on intentions to change consumption. However, participants reporting higher subjective SES reported greater intentions to increase consumption of foods, regardless of their health or carbon footprint status. Overall, this preliminary research shows promise for HENI and environmental food labels as an intuitive method for portraying health and environmental information regardless of socioeconomic position.