title: A theoretical and empirical investigation of nutritional label use.
abstract: Due in part to increasing diet-related health problems caused, among others, by obesity, nutritional labelling has been considered important, mainly because it can provide consumers with information that can be used to make informed and healthier food choices. Several studies have focused on the empirical perspective of nutritional label use. None of these studies, however, have focused on developing a theoretical economic model that would adequately describe nutritional label use based on a utility theoretic framework. We attempt to fill this void by developing a simple theoretical model of nutritional label use, incorporating the time a consumer spends reading labels as part of the food choice process. The demand equations of the model are then empirically tested. Results suggest the significant role of several variables that flow directly from the model which, to our knowledge, have not been used in any previous empirical work.
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, Votanikos, 118 55, Athens, Greece. adrihout@aua.gr
authors.forename: Andreas C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Drichoutis
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lazaridis
authors.forename: Rodolfo M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Nayga
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kapsokefalou
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chryssochoidis
mesh_terms: D002321:Career Choice; D003258:Consumer Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D054626:Consumer Health Information / Q000379:methods*; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D005515:Food Labeling / Q000379:methods*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008962:Models, Theoretical