Abstract
The author assesses whether a type of reference information that provides a summary description of all available brands on a product attribute, such as the average fat content of all brands of ice-cream bars, facilitates consumer usage of nutrition information. He examines summary information in the form of the average value and range of values of all available brands on an attribute. Hypotheses are generated and assessed across two experiments to test the proposition that numerical nutrition information will be used to a greater degree by consumers when it is presented with summary information than without. The findings point to the importance of summary information in facilitating the usage of nutrition information by consumers and the need for further research in this area. In addition, the author also examines the effect of verbal presentations of nutrition information in light of the descriptive nature of verbal information that allows its interpretation without summary information. Verbal presentations of nutrition information were found to lead to a greater degree of usage of such information than numerical presentations, suggesting the importance of verbal presentations in facilitating the usage of nutrition information.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 48-60 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Journal of Public Policy and Marketing |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| State | Published - 1994 |