Consumers want more bad news on food packaging

Although it seems like we couldn’t possibly fit any more information on food packaging, it turns out that consumers want more.

A Cornell University study of 351 shoppers found that consumers are willing to pay a premium for products labelled ‘free from’ something, but only if the packaging includes negative information on whatever the product is free from.

The researchers found, for example, that a product labelled free from a particular food dye will compel some consumers to purchase that product. But what’s most interesting is that even more people will buy the product if the label also includes information about the risks of ingesting such dyes.

“What did surprise us was the effect of supplementary information,” said Harry M Kaiser, a Cornell professor whose field of study includes product labelling. “Even seemingly negative information was valued over just the label itself.”

When provided with more information about ingredients, consumers are more confident about their decisions and value the product more, Kaiser said.

The study - Consumer response to ‘contains’ and ‘free of’ labelling - was published in the journal Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy.