The use of nutritive composition data at the point of purchase

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine whether shoppers will use nutrition information when they are making in-store choices among brands of five packaged products. To present shoppers with comparative nutrient composition information on all brands of each product, we suspended tabular signs containing these data above the supermarket aisles where these products were shelved. For each product, we displayed, during randomly selected periods, one of eight signs that differed according to the number of nutrients listed and the inclusion of nutrients perceived as more or less "important." The perceived importance of a nutrient had been determined by a preliminary consumer study. We then monitored brand sales over a two-week period to see whether customers tended to chopse brands that ranked high nutritionally over lower-ranked brands. The influence of the signs depended upon the product and the week in which the information was presented. For three of the five products, there was a shift toward higher-ranked brands during the first week, and this shift continued through the second week for two products. Varying the number and type of nutrients on the signs had no effect on the shift toward brands with a nutritional advantage.