How consumer and provider responses to nutritional labelling interact: An online shopping experiment with implications for policy

Abstract

Food labelling policies are usually conceptualised as a way to inform consumers about nutritional content of food. Although often unstated, a secondary aim is to encourage industry to reformulate recipes or introduce healthier alternatives. Parallel bodies of research examine how consumers and industry respond to food labelling policies. In this study we explored the interaction between provider and consumer responses by recording purchases under different assumptions about the impact of a label on product ranges. We simulated different online food markets and tested the effects of a food label, Nutri-Score, on incentivised consumer decisions. Consumers who were exposed to Nutri-Scores applied to snack products made healthier purchases, on average, than consumers who were not. Consumers who shopped in a market adapted to provide more healthy options made healthier purchases than those who shopped in the current market. These effects were additive: consumers who were exposed to Nutri-Scores on products when shopping in the adapted market made the healthiest choices. In a subsequent choice task, a market that simulated reformulation had a stronger effect on choices than one that merely added healthier options. The findings hence offer insight into the benefits of labelling and may be useful for informing both policy and the dialogue between policymakers and industry.