Displaying Common but Previously Neglected Health Claims on Product Labels: Understanding Competitive Advantages, Deception, and Education

Abstract

An aim of the Food and Drug Administration food labeling regulations is to ensure that manufacturers aid consumers in making choices regarding their diets by eliminating “hollow” health claims. Of particular concern are health claims made by one brand when the claim is inherent to the product category but has not been featured previously in advertisements or on packaging. There is concern that consumers will use information provided by one brand about such an attribute to infer that the other brands in the product category do not possess the attribute and thus be misled. Results from three experiments show that this practice can mislead consumers and affect consumer inferences, use of the target attribute, and choice in favor of the brands displaying the attribute. However, consumer understanding regarding the typicality of the attribute in the product category was improved when this practice was employed. Furthermore, it was shown that improved consumer education can be achieved without the deception associated with narrow (brand-specific) health claims by using broader (category-defined) claims. Finally, it was shown that an incentive should remain for manufacturers to use broader claims whenever consumers are likely to be choosing between alternatives from broadly defined product categories (e.g., cooking oils versus peanut oils).