Abstract
More and more packaged products in China have been labeled as low-calorie products since the official implementation of nutrition claims in 2007. But little was known about the impact of such claims on the Chinese consumption of low-calorie food on the background of increasing rates of obesity among the Chinese population. This study sought to fill the gap by applying a consumer behavior model to a nationally representative online survey by means of structural equation modeling. The findings revealed that nutrition claims significantly affect the consumption of low-calorie products. Specifically, marketing stimulus on low-calorie products first affected consumer psychology, then consumer decision-making, and finally consumer responses. Despite the significant role of consumer psychology and decision-making in consumption, consumers were susceptible to the influence of targeted marketing strategies for foods with a low-calorie claim. It is recommended that appropriate use of low-calorie nutrition claims by manufacturers and choices of low-calorie food by consumers according to their own needs should be encouraged.
Highlights
Overweight and obesity are growing problems in China and have been linked to a variety of adverse health outcomes
Few respondents had experience in reading nutrition claims or purchasing food with nutrition claims, whereas approximately 66 and 65% of them believed that the low-calorie nutrition claim could help make a healthy food choice and understand nutritional properties, respectively
The study highlights the importance of understanding the effects of low-calorie nutrition claims on the consumption of packaged food in China
Summary
Overweight and obesity are growing problems in China and have been linked to a variety of adverse health outcomes (e.g., diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers). Report on Nutrition and Chronic Diseases in China (2020) illustrated that over 50% of adults were overweight or obese in 2019, an increase of at least 8% from 2012 (Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China, 2020). Many countries have adopted Codex recommendations and regulated the use of nutrition claims (Franco-Arellano et al, 2018). For improvement in diet quality, China implemented Food Nutrition Labeling Management Standards in 2007, introducing voluntary nutrition claims to the country for the first time.
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