Fuchs K, Lian J, Michels L, Mayer S, Toniato E, Tiefenbeck V (2022)
Publication Language: English
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2022
Book Volume: 14
Journal Issue: 10
DOI: 10.3390/nu14102044
Open Access Link: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/10/2044
In order to induce the shift in consumer behavior necessary for the
mitigation of diet-related diseases, front-of-package labels (FoPL) such
as the Nutri-Score that support consumers in their efforts to identify
nutritionally valuable products during grocery shopping have been found
to be effective; however, they remain non-compulsory in most regions.
Counter-intuitively, a similar stream of research on digital web-based
FoPL does not yet exist, even though such digital labels hold several
advantages over physical labels. Digital FoPL can provide scalable and
personalized interventions, are easier to implement than physical
labels, and are especially timely due to the recent increase in online
grocery shopping. The goal of this study was to demonstrate the
technical feasibility and intervention potential of novel, scalable, and
passively triggered health behavior interventions distributed via
easy-to-install web browser extensions designed to support healthy food
choices via the inclusion of digital FoPL in online supermarkets. To
that end, we developed a Chrome web browser extension for a real online
supermarket and evaluated the effect of this digital food label
intervention (i.e., display of the Nutri-Score next to visible products)
on the nutritional quality of individuals’ weekly grocery shopping in a
randomized controlled laboratory trial (N
= 135). Compared to the control group, individuals exposed to the
intervention chose products with a higher nutritional quality (e.g., 8%
higher healthy trolley index (HETI), 3.3% less sugar, 7.5% less
saturated fat). In particular, users with low food literacy seemed to
benefit from the digital FoPL (e.g., 11% higher HETI, 10.5% less sugar,
5.5% less saturated fat). Furthermore, participants exposed to the food
label advocated its introduction more strongly than the control group (p
= 0.081). Consumers worldwide could easily install such applications to
display digital food labels on their end devices, and would thus not
have to wait for stakeholders in the food industry to eventually reach
consensus on mandatory food label introduction.
APA:
Fuchs, K., Lian, J., Michels, L., Mayer, S., Toniato, E., & Tiefenbeck, V. (2022). Effects of Digital Food Labels on Healthy Food Choices in Online Grocery Shopping. Nutrients, 14(10). https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14102044
MLA:
Fuchs, Klaus, et al. "Effects of Digital Food Labels on Healthy Food Choices in Online Grocery Shopping." Nutrients 14.10 (2022).
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