Effects of Low-Calorie Nutrition Claim on Consumption of Packaged Food in China: An Application of the Model of Consumer Behavior

Frontiers in Psychology

Pei Wang¹  Zeying Huang²  Haijun Li³  Jiazhang Huang⁴ 

[1] Intelligence Engineering, University of Sanya, Sanya, China;Institute of Food and Nutrition Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing, China;;School of Information &School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, China;

关键词: nutrition claim;    low-calorie products;    nutrition labeling;    packaged food;    model of consumer behavior;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2021.799802

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

More and more packaged products in China have been labeled as low-calorie products since the official implementation of nutrition claims in 2007. But little was known about the impact of such claims on the Chinese consumption of low-calorie food on the background of increasing rates of obesity among the Chinese population. This study sought to fill the gap by applying a consumer behavior model to a nationally representative online survey by means of structural equation modeling. The findings revealed that nutrition claims significantly affect the consumption of low-calorie products. Specifically, marketing stimulus on low-calorie products first affected consumer psychology, then consumer decision-making, and finally consumer responses. Despite the significant role of consumer psychology and decision-making in consumption, consumers were susceptible to the influence of targeted marketing strategies for foods with a low-calorie claim. It is recommended that appropriate use of low-calorie nutrition claims by manufacturers and choices of low-calorie food by consumers according to their own needs should be encouraged.

【 授权许可】

Unknown