Does nutritional labeling increase healthy eating fallacy? An exploration into young Indian’s purchase behavior

Abstract

The paper examines young consumers' responses towards nutritional labeling, it's information content and the importance of the functional characteristics of these labels as perceived by young consumers in making informed purchase decisions through personal interviews of 220 respondents using a structured questionnaire. Factor analysis was performed to identify the underlying dimensions among a set of nutritional labeling parameters using principal component analysis. Based on factor analysis, ten factors emerged. Regression analysis and t test indicated that, out the ten factors, only three factors namely 'Nutritional Belief', 'Storage instruction & Information overload', and 'Exercise & Nutrition' were significant. These factors were mainly inclined outside the purview of nutritional labeling purchase influence .It was thus concluded that nutritional labeling had less influence in purchase decisions as far as young consumers were considered. Findings of the study give practical insights on food labeling issues for the food processors and policy makers.