Clearly unhealthy: The effect of potato chips nutrient warning labels

Several countries in America have adopted font-of-package nutritional warning labels (FOPWs) to address public health issues related to overweight and communicable diseases. Although FOPWs could increase awareness about poor-nutrient products, these labels have not been consistently effective for unhealthy products such as potato chips. The purpose of this research was to evaluate sensory branding characteristics (brand, package transparency, and healthy branding) to understand the effect of FOPWs on the consumption of unhealthy products. This study was conducted in four major cities in Colombia. A mixed model experiment assessed the impact of FOPWs (vs. control condition) across five packages: two branded packages, one transparent package, one white package, and one healthy branded package (carrot chips). Repeated measures throughout the five packages evaluated consumers' perceptions of (un)healthfulness and behavioural intentions. These comparisons led to three main findings: a) the main effects of package were significant on the three dependent variables, b) FOPWs had a significant effect on the healthy package perceived healthfulness and the transparent package behavioural intentions and c) the interaction effect between package and gender was significant on perceived unhealthfulness. Consumers appear to disregard FOPWs for hedonic products such as potato chips. However, packaging characteristics such as healthy branding and transparency may enhance the effect of the FOPW.