title: The effect of food label cues on perceptions of quality and purchase intentions among high-involvement consumers with varying levels of nutrition knowledge.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether differences in nutrition knowledge affected how women (a high-involvement group) interpreted intrinsic cues (ingredient list) and extrinsic cues ("all natural" label) on food labels.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 2 (intrinsic cue) × 2 (extrinsic cue) × 2 (nutrition knowledge expert vs novice) within-subject factorial design was used. Participants were 106 female college students (61 experts, 45 novices). Dependent variables were perception of product quality and purchase intention.
  
  
  RESULTS
  As predicted by the elaboration likelihood model, experts used central route processing to scrutinize intrinsic cues and make judgments about food products. Novices used peripheral route processing to make simple inferences about the extrinsic cues in labels.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Consumers' levels of nutrition knowledge influenced their ability to process food labels. The United States Food and Drug Administration should regulate the "all natural" food label, because this claim is likely to mislead most consumers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Journalism and Technical Communication, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
authors.forename: Amber
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Walters
authors.forename: Marilee
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Long
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D005502:Food / Q000592:standards*; D005515:Food Labeling; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D040541:Marketing; D009753:Nutritive Value; D010465:Perception; D010565:Persuasive Communication; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult