European consumers and health claims: attitudes, understanding and purchasing behaviour

Abstract

Health claims on food products are often used as a means to highlight scientifically proven health benefits associated with consuming those foods. But do consumers understand and trust health claims? This paper provides an overview of recent research on consumers and health claims including attitudes, understanding and purchasing behaviour. A majority of studies investigated selective product–claim combinations, with ambiguous findings apart from consumers’ self-reported generic interest in health claims. There are clear indications that consumer responses differ substantially according to the nature of carrier product, the type of health claim, functional ingredient used or a combination of these components. Health claims tend to be perceived more positively when linked to a product with an overall positive health image, whereas some studies demonstrate higher perceived credibility of products with general health claims (e.g. omega-3 and brain development) compared to disease risk reduction claims (e.g. bioactive peptides to reduce risk of heart disease), others report the opposite. Inconsistent evidence also exists on the correlation between having a positive attitude towards products with health claims and purchase intentions. Familiarity with the functional ingredient and/or its claimed health effect seems to result in a more favourable evaluation. Better nutritional knowledge, however, does not automatically lead to a positive attitude towards products carrying health messages. Legislation in the European Union requires that the claim is understood by the average consumer. As most studies on consumers’ understanding of health claims are based on subjective understanding, this remains an area for more investigation.

Healthfulness and nutritional composition of Canadian prepackaged foods with and without sugar claims

“…Sugar claims have the potential to influence food selection and it is important that they are found on products that are healthier and have comparatively better nutritional composition, particularly calories, than similar products without sugar claims, to avoid misleading the consumer (Wansink and Chandon 2006;Wills et al 2012;Nguyen et al 2016). The extent to which prepackaged foods and beverages with sugar claims are lower in calories, "nutrients to limit", or are healthier than those without sugar claims, has not been extensively examined in Canada or elsewhere.…”

Protocol for a Randomized Trial Assessing Consumer Evaluations of Pre-Packaged Foods that Systematically Vary by Nutrition Information and Product Attributes

“…Reviews of the cognitive and affective effects of health claims conclude that they often induce a positivity bias. This occurs when the mere presence of a health claim leads people to think more favorably about a product (even if it is unhealthy) compared to when there is no health claim [28][29][30][31]. Conversely, numerous reviews have concluded that evaluative FoPLs can be effective at helping consumers distinguish between healthier and less healthy foods [32][33][34][35].…”

“…Take the example of an unhealthy product that features both a health claim and an evaluative FoPL. The health claims literature would predict that the product would be evaluated favorably due to the positivity bias created by health claims [28][29][30][31], while the FoPL literature would predict that the food would be evaluated negatively because consumers would be able to accurately interpret the unhealthy profile conveyed in the FoPL [32,33].…”

Consumer involvement in oral nutritional supplements purchasing behavior

“…The purpose of giving enteral nutrition is to mitigate, cure or prevent disease, as well as to maintain the health of sick infants and children (SUANDI, 1999). Wills et al (2012) explains that high motivation in health and nutrition claims on product greatly influences the buying behavior of products with nutrition benefits. Mulyana (2014) states that one of the factors that influences involvement is materialism factor and products usability that represent consumer motivation.…”

“…Mittal (1989) states that involvment is a motivational state of mind of a person regard to an object or activity, it reveals itself as the level of interest in that object or activity. Research of Iwasaki and Havitz (1990) Based on various studies that relate individual factor, particularly motivation, and involvement, for example by Engel et al (1994), Zaichkowsky (1986), Mittal (1989, Iwasaki and Havitz (1990), Wills (2012), andMulyana (2014), then hypothesis that will be answered in this study is formulated, namely: H1: Motivation affects involvement significantly.…”