The impact of product health description and serving size information on consumption

Abstract

The main goal of this study was to investigate the effects of manipulating product health descriptions and serving size information on actual calorie consumption and estimations of calorie consumption. In a 3 (no description vs. healthy description vs. unhealthy description) by 2 (normal serving size information vs. larger serving size information) factorial design, 150 females over the age of 18 years were invited to partake in a “taste test” of an oatmeal cookie product. In terms of consumption, it was found that participants who received the larger serving size information (labelled as 4 cookies/280 calories), which was double that of the normal serving size information presented on traditional packaging (labelled as 2 cookies/140 calories), consumed significantly less (M=139.92 calories, SD=98.88) than those who received the normal serving size information (M=197.98 calories, SD=145.96). Participants therefore consumed approximately 29% less when they were presented the larger serving size information compared to the normal serving size information. When looking at overall accuracy of calorie estimations or how close their estimation was to their actual consumption, it was found that those who received the larger serving size information were significantly more accurate at estimating their actual calorie consumption (M=57.42 calories, SD=73.97) than those who received the normal serving size information (M=94.70 calories, SD=109.68). Furthermore, participants presented with a healthy product description were significantly more likely to underestimate the amount of calories they consumed during the experiment (M=-52.70 calories, SD=92.25) than those who received no product description (M=-6.72 calories, SD=132.81) or an unhealthy product description (M=7.89 calories, SD=127.14). Thus, product descriptions as well as serving size information can have a significant impact on calorie consumption and an individual’s estimation of their perceived calorie intake.