It seems like almost every food product available has at least two separate versions: "Original" and "Light" (or diet). Given this distinction, I wanted to find out how this affected the average consumer's choice. I came across an article called "The Impact of Product Name on Dieter's and Non-dieter's Food Evaluations and Consumption" that somewhat helped answer my question. The author's of this article found that dieter's were more likely to be influenced by nutritional information than non-dieters. They also found that even when provided with information that might be used to more accurately infer healthfulness (like ingredients, fat content, calories, sodium), dieters still continued to make their choice based on the classification of the product. For example, if Product A was actually "healthier" than Product B (taking all of the nutritional information into account), but Product B was classified as "Light," "Diet," or some other health-based claim, and Product A was not, dieters would be more likely to purchase Product B. The authors of this article encourage consumers to evaluate all of the attributes of a food item's nutritional information in a systematic manner, and not just to read the front of the label which tells them that it is a "diet food."
This calls for improved education to the public on what actually is healthy. Many times people read the nutrition facts, but do not actually know what makes a certain food healthy. For instance, many people do not realize that the average diet does need some fat in it, and are more likely to choose the nonfat alternative to a product when dieting. Also, people with different health conditions should be looking at different categories in the nutrition label, and not just calories or fat content. For example, the amount of carbohydrates in a product is helpful for people with diabetes. Maybe high school Health classes could be required to incorporate education about nutrition labels into their curriculum.
It would be nice if advertisers did not need to classify their products as a diet alternative, and consumers could figure out what was actually healthy just by reading the nutrition facts. This might be very difficult to accomplish, but it could possibly lead to a healthier and more knowledgeable population.
Irmark, Caglar, Vallen, Beth, and Rosen Robinson, Stephanie. "The Impact of Product Name on Dieters' and Nondieters' Food Evaluations and Consumption."
The Journal of Consumer Research 38. 2 (2011) : 390-405. Web. 6 July 2011.
My roommate is watching her weight and checks nutritional information such as the amount of sodium and protein and calories. She also only drinks a diet coke although she says it has better taste than a regular coke. But I agree with you that advertisers should take more responsibility and stop marketing their products and affecting consumer psychologically. (I guess this is also relevant to Jordan's topic....?)
ReplyDeleteNot to be the pessimist here, but of course, ideally, people would be more educated about what constitutes healthy v. "lite" food. Perhaps I am playing devil's advocate, but I think in the US in general, people are way to quick to blame advertisement and media rather than take responsibility for their own actions. This is (of course) a rather broad statement, but I mean I cannot be convinced that advertisers are entirely to blame in the aspect of obesity. Consumers are equally responsible for their consumption of products. Then again, perhaps better design could improve consumers comprehension of the details of consumption ?? (haha)
ReplyDelete