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Technical University of Munich

Best Paper Award 2012 – Königstorfer´s paper ranks first

Lehrstuhl-News, Sport- und Gesundheitswissenschaften |

Prof. Dr. Jörg Königstorfer is awarded for his article, written together with Prof. Dr. Andrea Gröppel-Klein, with the Best Paper Award 2012 of the journal Marketing ZFP – Journal of Research and Management. The paper studies how can be designed nutrition labeling to faciliate healthy decision-making from the consumer perspective. In the EU, nutrition labeling is statutory since 2011. The authors found out that attention to the labeling increases, if the labeling scheme is unified and implemented on the front of packages. The authors identify conditions that support the healthfulness of food decisions that are made at the point of purchase.
[Translate to en:] Konsumentin beim Kauf von Süßigkeiten (oben) und Format der vereinfachten Kennzeichnung von Nährwerten (unten), wie es in der Studie entwickelt wurde (eigene Fotos)

 

Key findings of the article 

In the awarded paper, Königstorfer and Gröppel-Klein describe how nutrition labeling schemes affect consumer attention and buying behavior. The authors studied three phenomena:

  • First, to which extent a unified and simplified nutrition labeling scheme on food products creates higher attention than currently used nutrition labeling schemes
  • Second, if attention can be further increased by making the nutrition labeling visible on all products
  • Third, how the optimized nutrition labeling scheme affects food decisions of consumers that have low self-control


The study

The study was very time-consuming. It was not conducted in the laboratory, but in the field where consumers make real purchases. Hundreds of real products were manipulated to show optimized nutrition labeling schemes. Also, the study employed mobile eyetracking technology to capture consumers´ gaze behavior in supermarkets.

Consumers with low self-control profit

The study shows that a unified front-of-pack nutrition labeling does not lead to a fundamental change in consumers´ behavior. Making food purchases is a highly habitualized behavior. However, the labeling increases visual attention and helps consumers with low self-control make healthier decisions, according to the nutrient profile. Increasing visual attention is essential, because consumers spend only a couple of seconds to the looked set of products when making real-life purchases. Attention to nutrition labeling is limited to fractions of a second. In this context, the unified and simplified labeling (see picture) allows easier processing of information.

Public health and retailing implications

The article derives implications for public policy, consumer protection, food producers and retailers. The latter stakeholders should create a unified and simplified nutrition labeling scheme and contribute to facilitating healthy food decision-making among consumers. The labeling creates a win-win situation hence between economic interests of food producers and health interests of public policy and consumer protection agencies.

The study

Contact:

Prof. Dr. Jörg Königstorfer

Uptown Munich Campus D
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 60/62
80992 Munich
Phone: +49.89.289.24559
Fax: +49.89.289.24642
info.mgt(at)sg.tum.de

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