Do taste and attention affect consumer preferences for multiple nutritional and health claims on a healthy food product? An empirical investigation on Spanish consumers

Abstract

The purpose of the current research is to assess consumer evaluation for multiple nutritional claims (NCs) versus health claims (HCs) on a healthy food product (yogurt), examine whether and how taste influences consumer preferences for these labels through a discrete choice experiment, and explore the visual attention that consumers give to NCs and HCs on yogurt package through the eye tracking technique. Results from logistic regression models suggest that there is a relationship between the most highly valued NCs and/or HCs from the stated preferences and the most viewed claims in terms of visual attention (fixation count). This relationship affirms that final product selection is not only based on the type of labeling on the package but also the visual attention that consumers pay to it. Tasting a healthy food product resulted in higher values and higher visual attention attached to NCs and HCs, however, preferences between the two treatments (taste and no-taste) were homogeneous.