How do nutrition facts label

on food products affect

consumer purchase

VAROON JUDE – FX23031 – GREAT LAKES – MARKETING

RESEARCH
Motivation for the research
The diet-related health issues have been increased intensely from last few years
across the globe. Now, it’s important to take corrective steps in this field because
the people suffer a lot from the health risks like blood pressure, cardio disease,
and high body mass index. In response to this serious issue of health risk, the
governments of various countries have raised the concern about different issues
like eating habit of people, physical activity, and attitude towards healthy living. In
this situation, self-discipline on the consumption of food is really very important.
The nutrition and calories requirement varies from person to person based on their
physic. It became important that the consumer must have knowledge of the
product they are consuming

The best way to inform the consumer about the product and the nutrients it
carries is to provide information about the product. Food label on the product plays
the role of informing the consumer about the product, its ingredients, and
nutrients it contains.

One of the most important components of a food label is nutrition label which is
available on the packed food product. Nutrition label alone is likely to offer limited
success to public health communication method, but it can make a small but
important contribution towards making informed food choices. Consumers can use
health claims, which appear on the food packages to identify foods with certain
nutrition qualities related to risk factors and wellness. Consumers’ ability to choose
their diets somewhat depends on the quantity and quality of information available
through a variety of sources, including nutrition panel food labels.

Nutrition label plays an important role in providing the appropriate information to

consumers. The inclusion of a nutrition label on food items may be an important
packaging decision. Nutrition labels can simplify the whole concept of healthy
eating. It also allows consumers to make an informed judgment of a product's
overall value. The food labels are there to inform the nutritional composition of
product. The objective of nutrition food labeling is to provide consistent,
understandable, and usable labels that can help consumers to make informed and
healthier food choices. Nutrition labelling is found to affect the consumer
purchase behavior significantly. Some evidence reveals that provision of nutrition
information may allow consumers to switch consumption away from 'unhealthy'
products in those food categories toward 'healthy' products in food categories
more easily. That’s how nutrition label helps the consumer, manufacturer, and
government. With the help of nutrition label consumer can choose healthy food and
can easily maintain a healthy diet. With the help of it, the manufacturer can
differentiate their product easily and it becomes easy for them to win the trust of
the consumer by providing the right information. It gives the opportunity to the
food manufacturer to lead in this field as they can influence the consumer attitude
and perception which ultimately change the purchasing behavior with the help of
the better information in a simple format.

Identifying variables of interest

 Consumer Buying Behavior

 Nutritional Labelling
 Health
 Health Hazards
 Consumer
 Food perception

Consumer Buying Behavior

Buying Behavior is the decision processes and acts of people involved in buying and
using products. Consumer Buying Behavior refers to the actions taken (both on and
offline) by consumers before buying a product or service. This process may include
consulting search engines, engaging with social media posts, or a variety of other
actions. It is valuable for businesses to understand this process because it helps
them better tailor their marketing initiatives to the marketing efforts that have
successfully influenced consumers to buy in the past.
Factors influencing consumer buyer behavior

 Cultural Factors
 Social Factors 
 Personal Factors
 Psychological Factors 

Nutritional Labelling

Nutrition labels describe the nutrient content of a food and are intended to guide
the consumer in food selection. The nutrition information provided must be
selected based on consistency with dietary recommendations. Selection of the
specific nutrients or food components to be listed should further consider label
space, the analytical feasibility of measuring the nutritional component within the
food matrix, and the relative costs of such analyses. Nutrition information
provided on labels should be truthful and not mislead consumers. At the same time,
labelling regulations should provide incentives to manufacturers to develop
products that promote public health and assist consumers in following dietary
recommendations.

Health

Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely
the absence of disease or infirmity. The enjoyment of the highest attainable
standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without
distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition.

Health Hazards

Health hazards are chemical, physical, or biological factors in our environment that

can have negative impacts on our short- or long-term health. Exposure can occur
through touch, inhalation, and ingestion. Understanding the risks of these hazards
can help us to take action to avoid or mitigate these risks.
Consumer

A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, orders, or uses

purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family,
household and similar needs, not directly related to entrepreneurial or business
activities. In an economy, a consumer buys goods or services primarily
for consumption and not for resale or for commercial purposes. Consumers pay
some amount of money (or equivalent) for something - goods or services - which
they (or their families) then consume (use up). As such, consumers play a vital role
in the economic system of a capitalist system and form a fundamental part of any
economy. Without consumer demand, producers would lack one of the key
motivations to produce: to sell to consumers. The consumer also forms one end of
the chain of distribution.

Food perception

The ability to categorize food and nonfood correctly and to distinguish between
different foods is essential for our survival. Because of our omnivore nature and
because of the food-rich environment in which we live, categorization processes
involving food are particularly complex. The extent of the literature on this
subject is an indication of our limited understanding of the mental processes
underlying food perception, categorization, and choice.
Conceptual Model

Consumer

Internal Need Motivation External

Influencers Influencers

Food Labelling
Demography Information
regulations
 Gender Research
 Race Role of food
 Education manufactures
 Nutritional Understanding
Knowledge Food label
 Health Evaluating the information
Status information
Product attributes.

Situational Factors Informed food

 Work Status choice
 Income
 Time

Recommendation

Method
Survey refers to a technique of gathering information regarding a variable under
study, from the respondents of the population.

Experiment implies a scientific procedure wherein the factor under study is

isolated to test hypothesis.

Survey method relies on the questioning of the informants on a specific subject.

Survey follows structured form of data collection, in which a formal questionnaire
is prepared, and the questions are asked in a predefined order. Informants are
asked questions concerning their behavior, attitude, motivation, demographic,
lifestyle characteristics, etc. through observation, direct communication with them
over telephone/mail or personal interview. Questions are asked verbally to the
respondents, i.e. in writing or by way of computer. The answer of the respondents
is obtained in the same form.

As Surveys are performed when the research is of descriptive nature and suitable
for social and behavioral science. Considering these factors and nature of the topic
chosen, I am going with survey method.

Questionnaires

Part 1

Basic Questions

 Age
 Sex
 Educational level
 Occupation
 Weight

Part 2

 I read the nutritional information presented on labels before I purchase a

product.
 I know what the nutrients on food labels means
 I understand the information displayed on nutritional labels.
 I use food labels to monitor my weight.
 I use food labels for dietary considerations.
 I look at only the ingredients when I purchase pre-packaged food products.
 I consciously search for nutritional information before I purchase a food
product.
 I seek to understand content on nutritional labels.
 My buying decisions is influenced by nutritional information on products.