Believe it or not, every aspect of food labels can affect the way a customer regards a product. It’s common to see chips, candy bars and other items with labels denoting what size the portion is supposed to be. A Cornell study now suggests that it’s this label, not the amount of food itself, that can impact the decisions consumers make in the supermarket and at the dinner table. It all depends on how you define a “regular” or medium-sized serving—and brands have this entirely within their power.
The researchers gave subjects two different portions of food, with a two-cup serving labeled “Regular” and a one-cup serving “Half-Size.” In some cases, the larger serving was called “Double-Size,” but each type of label brought with it different assumptions on the part of the consumer. In some cases, the subjects of the study ate the same amount of food as a “Double” portion simply because it was not labeled as such.
The study was conducted by David Just and Brian Wansink, two researchers working through the Cornell Food and Brand Lab. Wansink told the Cornell Chronicle that this indicates the importance of creating a regular labeling system for food labels.
“Clearly defining the actual amount of food in a ‘small’ or a ‘large’ would inform customers of just how much food they are ordering every time they ask for a certain size,” he said.
Making labels that describe different products in relation to each other may be convenient to a company, but the consequences are worth considering.
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