Examining mental shortcuts in consumers use of food package information for purchase decision. Is it a case of health, habit or haste?

Abstract

This study examines how consumers use heuristics in food decision-making. Three research questions motivated the study. What types of food choice heuristics are most commonly used? How does reliance on heuristics vary by consumers' label-reading behaviour? To what extent do attitudes and personal characteristics influence heuristic use? Using a survey-based experiment, 508 Taiwanese participants were presented with five milk product profiles, each designed to trigger a specific heuristic (Take-the-best, Recognition, Emotional or Attribute Substitution). Choices were triangulated with data on label-use behaviour and food-related attitudes. Chi-square tests assessed associations between consumer attitudes and product choices, while multinomial logistic regression predicted drivers of heuristic use. The results show that most consumers do not consistently apply a single decision rule. Only 16.1 % demonstrated behaviour aligned with their stated preferences. Chi-square tests showed that decision patterns were strongly associated with whether participants prioritized health versus price/taste (χ² = 39.8, p < .001) and, to a lesser extent, with habitual versus conscious shopping (χ² = 16.3, p = .038). Multinomial regression showed that label-readers were over five times more likely to choose emotionally framed options and three times more likely to choose cognitively framed ones, compared to price-driven (Take-the-best) choices. These findings show that price alone does not drive food decisions, even when it represents a clear monetary advantage. The study underscores the bounded rationality of consumers and suggests that label simplification, emotional salience and contextual framing may be more effective than information density in guiding healthier food choices.