Another Look at the Impact of Reference Information on Consumer Impressions of Nutrition Information

The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) of 1990 requires the provision of daily value reference information on food labels to improve consumer judgments of product nutritiousness. Yet, a review of the literature reveals little research indicating that daily values (DVs) have such a facultative effect. In light of this, the authors empirically examine how DVs fare against an alternative reference point in the form of average-brand values. Their results demonstrate that these two reference points differ in terms of their impact on consumers’ interpretation of nutritional information. In particular, they find that average-brand reference points better facilitate consumer discernment between healthy and less healthy products than either the DVs currently mandated by the NLEA or no reference information at all. Their findings also reveal the potential for DVs to cause consumers to form incorrect conclusions about a product's nutritiousness. The authors draw implications regarding the provision of reference information on product labels as a means of attaining public policy objectives.