Do customers pay attention to nutrition labels when they buy an online food product?

Abstract

Attitudes of customers towards the nutritional aspect of the foods are increasing rapidly and also in India online grocery business is at emerging stage. In this context, at the time of online purchasing nutritional label of food product play a significant role in providing the relevant information to consumers. This study was conducted with a view of identifying important nutritional labelling aspects that customers would examine at the time of online purchasing of food product. The ultimate objective was to investigate the understanding and perception of nutrition label among customer when they buy an online food product. Pre-tested structured questionnaire was employed to collect data from random sample of 168 respondents. In the analysis of data SPSS Statistics Solution has been utilized. Nonparametric tests were used in the analysis of data with no normal distribution. Mann-Whitney U in the mean comparison of 2 independent groups (Post-graduates & Undergraduates). Results indicate perceptions of customers on nutritional label subscales are statistically significant according to group. Another important finding is that only about a third of the consumers checked Manufacturer, the origin and FDA certification and 60.6% of them looked for expiry date and nutrition information. The customers felt that too much information displayed on the labels is too technical to understand as most of them lack basic nutrition knowledge.