The impact of varying educational intervention on consumer understanding and attitude toward reducing sodium in food: Implications for marketing strategies

Abstract

The objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness of different forms of educational intervention (active learning, passive learning, and passive learning with an authoritative effect) and the way it is presented (soft or aggressive), to improve the knowledge of consumers regarding sodium and also sodium‐reduced product labels. The different educational interventions were used to provide information about sodium chloride, its importance in the body, and the label of the product with reduced sodium content. The research questionnaire was designed to determine the effect of different educational approaches. The educational interventions were equally efficient for the participant understanding of the questions about sodium and label. For questions, which refer to participant behavior and intention to buy, the educational intervention, passive learning was slightly (p ≤ .05) better than the others. The aggressive approach proved to be more efficient compared to the soft approach as the approach technique for educational intervention. The use of shocking information, such as the mortality rate, is an important tool to influence consumers to change their behavior. Practical Applications This research provides unprecedented information for the scientific community and the food industry. It expands the knowledge about the effectiveness of educational interventions (active learning, passive learning, and passive learning with authoritarian effect), which plays an effective role in improving consumer understanding of the damages caused by excessive sodium intake. The results of this can be study used to define media plans in order to achieve the consumption and consequently guide the consumer to consume less sodium.