Effect of fat claims on consumer perceptions about product helpfulness for weight management

Abstract

Participants from an online consumer panel (n=3000) were randomly assigned to 1 of 9 treatment conditions in a 3X3 factorial design for fat claim (no claim, trans fat free or low fat claim) and nutrition information (no Nutrition Facts Table (NFT), low fat/low calorie, or low fat/high calorie), for both a breakfast cereal and frozen meal package. Compared to products with high calorie NFTs, products with low calorie NFTs were rated by participants as lower in calories, whether or not the product had a fat claim. Compared to those who did not see a claim or NFT, participants who saw frozen meals with a trans fat free claim and no NFT rated products as healthier and more helpful for weight management, while participants who saw breakfast cereals with only a low fat claim rated products as less healthy and participants were less willing to purchase these products. When shown the NFT, the likeliness that participants would favour low over high calorie products increased for products with fat claims compared to products without claims. These results demonstrate that consumers use fat claims in conjunction with the NFT to inform decisions, rather than the claim alone. Thus, fat claims may help consumers, rather than mislead them, to choose products that are better for weight management. However, while fat claims may help with decision‐making, they have been shown to negatively affect consumers’ eating behaviours.