What's On The Label?: how Consumers Evaluate Product Labeling

2005-06-01

What consumers look for on package labels varies depending on the lens through which they approach a product, such as diet needs (i.e., wheat allergies, lactose intolerance), diet choices (i.e., low-carb diet), and their overall involvement with wellness. Within the world of wellness, core, mid-level and periphery consumers have different approaches to the label components on a package. The most important label components for the core consumer are the ingredient list and the nutrition facts, while the mid-level consumer will look at the product description, the ingredient list, the brand and the nutrition facts. Finally, periphery consumers look to product description, the brand and the health claims to evaluate a particular product. For example, core consumers will largely ignore a product descriptor - "macaroni and cheese" - and will instead read the ingredient list to determine "what a product is." Periphery consumers, however, use the product descriptor to determine "what a product is" among categories and will rarely use ingredient lists.

Label Components	Core	Mid-Level	Periphery
Brand	Brand is used to look for new flavors and types within already "investigated" brands (typically organic): "I buy Nature's Path...I know about them."	Important in the selection of conventional brands. Still experimenting with organic brands.	Brand is critical. Also note that consumers may switch frequently between brands based on price and promotion.
Product description	Mostly unimportant: reads all ingredients, then decides "what the product is."	Important as a tool to compare between conventional and organic categories.	Important as a tool to compare between conventional categories: Uses product description to know "what a product is."
Nutrition facts	Considers nutrition facts a critical label component, looking at: protein, saturated fat, sugar and carbohydrates.	Considers nutrition facts a critical label component, looking at: calories, fat and fiber.	Considers nutrition facts panel a relatively non-critical component, looking at: serving size, calories, fat, then carbohydrates.
Ingredient List	The ingredient list is the most critical driver of purchase: Nearly always used and constitutes the "inspection" of a product. May read every ingredient on a new product, looking for organic. Prefers short lists.	The ingredient list is a fairly critical driver to purchase: Used very frequently. Looking for sugar as second or third ingredient rather than the first. Looking for short lists.	The ingredient list is non-critical and only occasionally used: Will look at ingredients only if making a "healthy purchase." May check a list to see if it is short, but not necessarily for specific ingredients to avoid.
Content claims	Can influence if consumer is a vegan or shopping with health conditions in mind.	Can influence if shopping with health conditions or diet in mind.	Will only influence if shopping with a health condition in mind.
Health claims	Resonate most to whole grain, no preservatives, GMO-free, organic, no artificial colors or artificial ingredients.	Resonate most to whole grain, low-fat, organic, high fiber, natural and rich in calcium.	Resonates to light or low; rich in calcium and low-carb.
Origin	Some trust organic products themselves to be from "safe origins," others will look for country.	Relatively little concern but has heard about pesticides on imported produce.	Little to no concern.