The impact of health claims on consumer search and product evaluation outcomes: Results from FDA experimental data

The authors report results of a mall-intercept study regarding the effects of health claims on consumer information search and processing behavior. Re sults suggest that the presence of health and nutrient-content claims on fo od packages induces respondents to truncate information search to the front panel of packages. Respondents who either truncate information search or v iew claims provide more positive summary judgments of products and give gre ater weight to the information mentioned in claims than to the information available in the Nutrition Facts panel. The presence of a claim also is ass ociated with a halo effect (rating the product higher on other health attri butes not mentioned in the claim) and, for one of the three products tested , a magic-bullet effect (attributing inappropriate health benefits to the p roduct). The authors discuss the policy implications of these results for F ood and Drug Administration health claim regulations.