Consumer Skepticism of Claims in Food Ads vs. on Food Labels: An Exploration of Differences and Antecedents

• Published date: 01 December 2019
• Author: Anusree Mitra,Manoj Hastak,Debra J. Ringold,Alan S. Levy
• Date: 01 December 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12237

WINTER 2019 VOLUME 53, NUMBER 4 1443

ANUSREE MITRA, MANOJ HASTAK, DEBRA J. RINGOLD ,

AND ALAN S. LEVY

Consumer Skepticism of Claims in Food Ads vs. on Food

Labels: An Exploration of Differences and Antecedents

Considerable evidence shows that consumers are skeptical of advertis-

ing, that is, havea tendency to doubt the truth of advertising claims. The

main focus of our paper is to explore, in the context of food products,

whether this typically high level of skepticism is also exhibited forprod-

uct labels. In addition, we look at consumer skepticism associated with

health claims in food ads and labels as well as with the Nutrition Facts

Panel on food packages. Finally,we examine some individual difference

factors that might inuence consumer skepticism. Wereport the results

of a large-scale survey designed to explore these issues, and we discuss

the implications of our ndings for public policy and future research.

Chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, cancer,

and stroke are among the leading causes of poor health, disability, and

death in the United States, and account for most health care expenditures

(Bauer et al. 2014). Most of these diseases are heavily inuenced by

a person’s diet; therefore, helping consumers make better food choices

has been an important objective of public policy efforts (Institute of

Medicine (IOM) 2012). With this goal in mind, the Nutrition Labeling

and Education Act of 1990 (NLEA) required food packages to carry a

standardized Nutrition Facts Panel (NFP) that provides consumers with

nutrition information about the product at the point of purchase (Food

and Drug Administration (FDA) 1993). In addition, permissible health and

nutrition claims featured on food packages and in food advertising are

important sources of consumer information. In 1994, the Federal Trade

Anusree Mitra (amitra@american.edu) is an Associate Professor of Marketing and Manoj Hastak

(mhastak@american.edu) is a Professor of Marketing, both at Kogod School of Business, Amer-

ican University. Debra J. Ringold (dringold@willamette.edu) is JELD WEN Professor of Free

Enterprise at Atkinson Graduate School of Management, Willamette University. Alan S. Levy

(levylabeling@gmail.com) is a Social Science Scientist, Emeritus at U.S. Food and Drug Adminis-

tration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. The authors gratefully acknowledge the design

and data collection efforts contributedto this paper by Janis K. Pappalardo, Brenda M. Derby, and John

Kozup. The authors thank the editor and twoanonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and sug-

gestions. This work was underwritten by Villanova UniversitySchool of Business and the Atkinson

Graduate School of Management, Willamette University.

The Journal of Consumer Affairs, Winter 2019: 1443–1455

DOI: 10.1111/joca.12237

Copyright 2019 by The American Council on Consumer Interests