Ninya Maubach

Citation

Thesis Title
The effects of front-of-pack nutrition information and product claims on consumers' product evaluations and choice behaviour

Read article at Massey Research Online:

Better food labelling has been suggested as a tool to combat the obesity epidemic. Ms Maubach examined the effects two front-of-pack label formats, the Percent Daily Intake and Multiple Traffic Light labels, had on consumers’ attitudes and behaviour when compared to the existing Nutrition Information Panel. Furthermore, Ms Maubach examined whether the addition of nutrition-content and health claims influenced parents’ use of nutrition information. Her research found that the Multiple Traffic Light labels enabled parents to simplify the complicated task of evaluating the nutritional value of a children’s breakfast cereal. These labels also reduced the effect of product claims, as parents were more likely to choose products with claims even when the nutritional profile was poor. From this, Ms Maubach concluded that graphic labels are more likely to make it easier for consumers to make healthier food choices in distracting shopping environments.

Supervisors
Professor Janet Hoek
Mr Phil Gendall
Professor Timothy McCreanor