Nutritional traffic light and self-regulatory consumption: the role of emotions

Abstract

Purpose 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. Design/methodology/approach 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. Findings 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. Practical implications 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. Originality/value 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.

Influencing Factors and Social Media Reflections of Bakery Products Consumption in Romania

“…The results are in line with Bruwer et al [38] regarding gender differences, but do not follow the same pattern for the age differences. In addition, the results of Sánchez-García et al [23] regarding the fact that female consumers are inclined to reduce the consumption of certain food products, in this case bread, are in line with our findings. Furthermore, a population-representative study might have different results.…”

“…Consumers are also particularly interested in nutrition information on food labels [23,24]. In general terms, these labels also seek to inform and warn about nutritional content, facili-tating the choice of food and improving daily consumption [25].…”

“…Nowadays, changing consumption habits and introducing diversity to lifestyles is an important aspect for many people. Some authors [23,24] observed that consumers are trying to follow specific rules that reduce the volume of certain foods in their diet in order to provide their bodies with the appropriate amount of nutrients and also to care for the environment.…”

Front‐of‐package nutrition labeling as a driver for healthier food choices: Lessons learned and future perspectives

“…The MTL was the most liked, trusted, quickest, and easiest to understand (Santos et al., 2020; Talati et al., 2016) and was effective in nutrient content estimation (Findling et al., 2018; Freire et al., 2017) across gender and age groups (Freire et al., 2017). A study conducted in Ecuador found that the green color evoked low levels of anxiety and guilt, while the red color evoked the opposite (Sanchez‐Garcia et al., 2019). In addition, income was found to have a moderating effect on the influence of color, as only high‐income participants reported increased anxiety and guilt in the face of yellow color, indicating caution as they transitioned from green to red.…”

How to communicate healthy products inside grocery stores

“…Nudging reshapes the environment in which shoppers take their decisions by changing the presentation of options to consumers and making them more appealing, without removing options, changing economic incentive or constraining shoppers’ liberty of choice. In addition, the way companies communicate the healthiness of the products inside the store can change the effectiveness of a strategy since they can evoke different emotions that may affect judgements and behaviours (Sijtsema et al , 2009; Sánchez-García et al , 2018). In fact, several authors argued and demonstrated that emotions can influence customer satisfaction (Westbrook and Oliver, 1991) and customer loyalty (Yu and Dean, 2001).…”