Consumer demand for details on food labels includes the good – and the bad

New research finds that consumers crave more information, especially for the potentially harmful ingredients that aren’t included in the product. Consumers were willing to pay a premium when a product label says “free of” something, but only if the package includes “negative” information on whatever the product is “free of.”
For example, a food labeled “free” of a food dye will compel some consumers to buy that product. But even more people will buy that product if that same label also includes information about the risks of ingesting such dyes. An article about the research is published in Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy (Press Release Cornell University, 20 November 2013).
Click here for the press release.
Click here for an abstract of the published article.

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