“Natural” labeling and consumers’ sentimental pastoral notion

Abstract

Purpose – This study aims to investigate the appeal of “natural” labeling and builds on past research which suggests that people may have a naïve pastoral view of nature and natural entities. “Natural” labeling is pervasive in supermarkets across the USA. Design/methodology/approach – This paper employs a multi-method approach to examine consumer perceptions and beliefs about products labeled “natural”. Qualitative responses are solicited to examine the images and feelings that come to mind when consumers see “natural” labeling on a food product. Two experiments are conducted to examine consumers’ evaluations of “natural” labeling on both food and supplement products. Findings – The results of three studies suggest that “natural” labeling evokes positive feelings and sentimental imagery associated with a pastoral view of nature. These perceptions reinforce beliefs that food and supplement products labeled “natural” possess positive instrumental benefits such as health advantages, lack of contamination and safety. Social implications – Consumers are under pressure to make better choices regarding what they put into their bodies due to pervasive concern over the prevalence of obesity and diabetes. This study provides insight into why consumers perceive food and supplement products labeled “natural” as better alternatives. Originality/value – This paper is one of the first studies to investigate the underlying perceptual forces accounting for the effectiveness of “natural” food and supplement labeling.

Consumers’ categorization of food ingredients: Do consumers perceive them as ‘clean label’ producers expect? An exploration with projective mapping

“…In fact, it has been found that organic food choice appears to be driven by modern health concerns (Devcich, Pedersen, & Petrie, 2007), negative associations with chemicals (Dickson-Spillmann, Siegrist, & Keller, 2011) as well as scepticism about functional food developments (Aschemann-Witzel, Maroscheck, & Hamm, 2013) and unknown ingredients (Evans, Challemaison, & Cox, 2010). Naturalness in food is sought because of associations of more traditional and 'authentic' processing, leading to assumptions about favourable health effects (Amos, Pentina, Hawkins, & Davis, 2014). Consequently, food producers respond by altering their ingredient lists in order to move closer to the idea of 'clean label' foods.…”

“…Research has looked into what consumers associate with certain ingredients using different techniques, as, for example, word association tasks and free listing (Varela, Ares, & Fiszman, 2013; or qualitative methods of association (Amos et al, 2014). So far the potential of the projective mapping method for studying ingredient perception is under-explored.…”

Making sense of the “clean label” trends: A review of consumer food choice behavior and discussion of industry implications

“…Label represents a third sub-factor. Amos, Pentina, Hawkins, & Davis (2014) suggested that food products labeled with natural claims are perceived to be less harmful and healthier, with superior instrumental attributes, and possessing higher nutritional value and lower human contamination. Liu, Hooker, Parasidis, & Simons (2017) found that the presence of an all-natural FOP label improves consumers' perceptions of product quality and nutritional content.…”

Reformulation as an Integrated Approach of Four Disciplines: A Qualitative Study with Food Companies

“…Although in legislation there is no difference between ‘natural’ and ‘artificial’ E-numbers [ 32 ], consumers think that ‘natural is safe’. Consumers use ‘natural’ as a simple feature that labelled on food products show that these products contain superior attributes and are perceived to be less harmful and healthier than conventional [ 33 ]. Although the price for natural ingredients was generally higher, companies reported that these products were selling well because of the positive narrative attached to them.…”