The role of causal models and beliefs in interpreting health claims

Abstract

Consumers' interpretation of claims is associated with their belief in the claim and their causal models of health. This prior knowledge is used to interpret the claim and draw inferences about overall health benefits that go beyond the information in the claim. Therefore, efforts to improve consumers' understanding and interpretation of health claims must address both their wider causal models of health and their knowledge of specific claims. Statement of Contribution What is already known on this subject? Health claims influence the likelihood of buying a product. But consumers do not accurately understand or interpret health claims. What does this study add? Consumers' interpretation of health claims is mediated by their personal causal model of health. Consumers draw inferences that go beyond what is claimed by extrapolating from their personal causal model of health. Consumers are also influenced directly by their belief in the claim, but not frequency of exposure to it.

Are the Claims to Blame? A Qualitative Study to Understand the Effects of Nutrition and Health Claims on Perceptions and Consumption of Food

“…The theme ‘Characteristics/perceptions of products carrying NHCs’ also has a relationship with the ‘Believability of NHCs’ theme. Current research in this area has identified participants’ belief in claims (believability) as a possible key factor or moderator of the relationship between NHCs and perceptions or behaviour [5,35]. However, unlike other studies in which believability has impacted upon perceptions of products [5,36], in the current study, belief was mentioned more in relation to skepticism, with little or no explicit mention of perceptions or consumption behaviour.…”

Fifteen Years of Regulating Nutrition and Health Claims in Europe: The Past, the Present and the Future

“…Research seems to lack consensus on how purchase decisions and consumption behaviour are affected by claims, (front-of-pack) nutrition information and food information [97,98], even though evidence suggests that labelling can support identifying and selecting products with healthier ingredients (e.g., with less sodium and trans fats) [99,100]. For claims specifically, it has become clear that their use and understanding are influenced by different consumer characteristics, most importantly personal relevance of the described health benefit [101][102][103][104][105]. While the legislation makes a clear-cut distinction between nutrition claims, function-related health claims and disease risk reduction claims, it is unknown whether consumers can make that same distinction between different types of claims, let alone whether these claims differently influence purchasing and consumption behaviour [92].…”

Front-of-pack images can boost the perceived health benefits of dietary products

“…Images on product packaging can provide useful information for consumers when navigating an ever-crowded marketplace. Similarly, images may afford consumers the opportunity to better understand the causal relationships between a nutritive and its intended health outcome (Banks, Egan, Hodgkins, Peacock, & Raats, 2018). But considered together, the present findings show that such images can also lead people to make more optimistic assumptions about the magnitude of these products' health benefits.…”