Influences of previous experiences on consumers' reading and use of nutritional information on food packages: a questionnaire study involving structural equation modeling

From the point of view of public health, as well as marketing there is an interest in consumers reading and use of nutritional information on food packages. An investigation was made of to what extent, in their choice of food products, consumers read food labels and used them as a source of information on the food’s nutritive value and the ingredients, and to investigate how their use of such information and choice of food products was affected by previous experiences connected with food. Subjects were 449 randomly selected consumers, who responded to a mail-distributed questionnaire.  Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. It was found that reading nutritional information on food package labels covaried with reading information on health and wholesome foods in books, newspapers and magazines, with purchase of low-fat and fibre-rich food products, and with having experienced health problems that led to dietary restrictions. Covariation was also found between experiencing health problems belonging to the metabolic syndrome and purchasing food products marked with a keyhole symbol, which in Sweden is used to help consumers identify the healthiest options. The results suggest that the individual’s health motives predict the use of information on food labels and purchase of healthy food products. The results also suggest that the keyhole symbol is important in the search for wholesome food among people with health problems belonging to the metabolic syndrome.