1. Introduction
FOP, obesity, health/control
OBESITY, DISEASE, CHRONIC DISEASES
Applying construal level theory, this study examined how social distance (thinking of self/children), front-of-package (FOP) claim type (nutrient/health/control), and perceived importance of eating healthily (low/high) impact consumer responses (attitudes/purchase intent) to healthier food products through an online experiment with 171 U.S. parents from low-to-mid socio-economic households. Participants were randomly assigned to view controlled images of healthier foods with packaging that bore different claim types for real and fictitious brands. Results revealed that when choosing for themselves, consumer attitudes were more positive when the healthier food package carried a nutrient (vs. health) claim, however, control claims received the most positive evaluations. When choosing for children, attitudes were more positive when the package carried a health (vs. nutrient/control) claim. Attitudes toward healthier foods were higher for consumers with high (vs. low) perceived importance of eating healthily when the package bore a nutrient claim, however, their attitudes did not significantly differ when the package bore a health/control claim. Purchase intent for healthier foods was higher for consumers with high (vs. low) perceived importance of healthy eating when shopping for self; whereas, when shopping for children, purchase intent did not significantly differ between consumers who varied in perceived importance of eating healthily. In the United States, obesity remains a common, but preventable, disease [To reduce the prevalence of chronic diseases, public health authorities have implemented preventive strategies focused on nutrition such as the presence of mandatory and voluntary nutritional information on packaged foods. This information is presented either numerically (i.e., Nutrition Facts Panels [NFPs]) and/or non-numerically (i.e., nutrient-content and/or health claims which serve as verbal descriptors of a product). According to the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA), an NFP that presents serving size, calories, and other nutrients of the food item is mandatory on packaged foods [Current FOP labels carry various nutrition claims that imply the healthfulness of a food product [Nutrient or health claims (FOP claim type) that promote healthier foods; andDecision contexts that prompt thinking about self or children (social distance) when choosing healthier foods.