The impact of product health description and serving size information on consumption
Date
2018-08-23
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Abstract
The main goal of this study was to investigate the effects of manipulating product health
descriptions and serving size information on actual calorie consumption and estimations of calorie
consumption. In a 3 (no description vs. healthy description vs. unhealthy description) by 2 (normal
serving size information vs. larger serving size information) factorial design, 150 females over the
age of 18 years were invited to partake in a “taste test” of an oatmeal cookie product. In terms of
consumption, it was found that participants who received the larger serving size information
(labelled as 4 cookies/280 calories), which was double that of the normal serving size information
presented on traditional packaging (labelled as 2 cookies/140 calories), consumed significantly
less (M=139.92 calories, SD=98.88) than those who received the normal serving size information
(M=197.98 calories, SD=145.96). Participants therefore consumed approximately 29% less when
they were presented the larger serving size information compared to the normal serving size
information. When looking at overall accuracy of calorie estimations or how close their estimation
was to their actual consumption, it was found that those who received the larger serving size
information were significantly more accurate at estimating their actual calorie consumption
(M=57.42 calories, SD=73.97) than those who received the normal serving size information
(M=94.70 calories, SD=109.68). Furthermore, participants presented with a healthy product
description were significantly more likely to underestimate the amount of calories they consumed
during the experiment (M=-52.70 calories, SD=92.25) than those who received no product
description (M=-6.72 calories, SD=132.81) or an unhealthy product description (M=7.89 calories,
SD=127.14). Thus, product descriptions as well as serving size information can have a significant
impact on calorie consumption and an individual’s estimation of their perceived calorie intake.
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Keywords
health expectations, product descriptions, nutrition facts, serving size, calorie consumption, calorie estimation