Effect of health warning labels on motivation towards energy-dense snack foods

Two experimental studies

Bibliographic Data

ID11364797
AuthorsMinna Ventsel (0000-0001-8308-9140, University of Cambridge, corresponding author), Emily Pechey (0000-0002-2288-2652, University of Cambridge), Katie De-Loyde (0000-0002-8672-9710), Katie De‐loyde (University of Bristol), M Pilling (0000-0002-7446-6597, University of Cambridge), Mark A Pilling, Richard W Morris (0000-0002-5018-1239), Richard Morris (0000-0003-0208-8440, University of Bristol), Giulia Maistrello (0000-0002-2099-006X, University of Cambridge), Hisham Ziauddeen (0000-0003-4044-1719, University of Cambridge), Theresa M Marteau (0000-0003-3025-1129, University of Cambridge), Gareth J Hollands (0000-0002-0492-3924, University of Cambridge), Paul C Fletcher (0000-0001-8257-1517, University of Cambridge, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume175
Pages106084
Publication date2022-08-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAppetite (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0195-6663 • E-ISSN: 1095-8304
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.appet.2022.106084
PMID35580820
OpenAlexW4280494880
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited38

Health warning labels (HWLs) show promise in reducing motivation towards energy-dense snack foods. Understanding the underlying mechanisms could optimise their effectiveness. In two experimental studies in general population samples (Study 1 n = 90; Study 2 n = 1382), we compared the effects of HWLs and irrelevant aversive labels (IALs) on implicit (approach) motivation towards unhealthy snacks, using an approach-avoidance task (Study 1), and a manikin task (Study 2). We also assessed explicit motivation towards unhealthy snacks using food selection tasks. We examined whether labelling effects on motivation arose from the creation of outcome-dependent associations between the food and its health consequences or from simple, non-specific aversive associations. Both label types reduced motivation towards snack foods but only when the label was physically present. HWLs and IALs showed similar effects on implicit motivation, although HWLs reduced explicit motivation more than IALs. Thus, aversive HWLs appear to act both through low level associative mechanisms affecting implicit motivation, and by additionally emphasizing explicit causal links to health outcomes thereby affecting explicitly motivated choice behaviours

Associative learning · Associative property · Cognitive psychology · Developmental psychology · Snack food · Behavioral Health and Interventions · Consumer Attitudes and Food Labeling · Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification · Psychology · Social Psychology · Food Science

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access