Testing Emotional Eating Style in Relation to Willingness to Pay for Nutritional Claims.

Tiziana De-Magistris,Belinda López-Galán

doi:10.3390/nu11081773

Abstract

In face of the high prevalence of non-communicable diseases, nutritional claims represent a useful tool to help people to make healthier food choices. However, recent research notes that when some people experience an intense emotional state, they increase their food consumption, particularly of energy-dense and sweet foods. In consequence, this study aims to assess whether emotional eating (EE) style influences the purchase of food products carrying these claims. To this end, a real choice experiment (RCE) was conducted with 306 participants who were asked to evaluate different types of toast. An error component random parameter logit (ECRPL) was used to analyze their preferences for reduced-fat and low-salt claims toast and the effects of the variation of the EE score on individual preferences. Findings of this study suggest that emotional eating negatively impacts purchasing behavior related to nutritional claims. In particular, a decrease of the willingness to pay between 9% and 16% for every unit of toast with nutritional claims was noted when an increase of EE individual score was registered. In this regard, to increase the effectiveness of the nutritional claims, policymakers and private sectors should consider the management of individuals’ emotional states in designing public health policies and marketing strategies, respectively.

Highlights

The increase in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is related to the poor quality of the human diet [1]
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that cardiovascular diseases, cancer, respiratory diseases, and type II diabetes are the main causes of premature death for over 40 million people worldwide [2]
Policymakers have designed instruments to help people make better food choices [6]. One such instrument is the nutritional claim [7], a statement informing consumers if a food product has been reformulated through reduction or addition of one or more nutrients [7]. This reformulation must be in line with scientific evidence confirming that high consumption of a specific nutrient can be harmful to health or, that the food product contains a nutrient that is vital to a healthy diet

Summary

Introduction

The increase in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is related to the poor quality of the human diet [1]. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that cardiovascular diseases, cancer, respiratory diseases, and type II diabetes are the main causes of premature death for over 40 million people worldwide [2] This poor state of public health [2] has had a negative impact on public health expenditure [3,4] and labor productivity [5]. Policymakers have designed instruments to help people make better food choices [6] One such instrument is the nutritional claim [7], a statement informing consumers if a food product has been reformulated through reduction or addition of one or more nutrients (e.g., reduced fat, low salt, high fiber) [7]. The objective of policymakers is to improve consumers’ decision-making by increasing their awareness through the provision of scientifically proven nutritional information, thereby reducing the effects of the poor nutritional knowledge or impulsivity [7]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion