A recent study titled “Healthy Choice: The Effect of Simplified Point-of-Sale Nutritional Information on Consumer Food Choice Behavior” published in the Journal of Marketing Research reveals that consumers are more likely to purchase healthier products when nutritional packaging is simple.
According to the study, a NuVal (Nutritional Value) score between 1 to 100 placed on shelf price tags helps consumers easily identify which products are healthy. The study included eight food categories, a major grocery store chain utilizing NuVal, and more than half a million shoppers. Essentially, the higher the score, the more nutritious the food is.
According to a 2012 Nielsen study, researchers say that nearly 60% of consumers find it difficult to understand product packaging when it comes to nutritional facts. According to J. Jeffrey Inman, a co-author of the study along with Hristina Nikolova, the NuVal simplified nutritional information had a powerful and immediate impact on the decisions made by shoppers, boosting healthier choices by more than 20 percent.
The eight food categories included in the study were tomato products, salad dressings, soups, frozen pizzas, spaghetti sauce, ice cream, granola bars, and yogurt. Nikolova said that not only do consumers make healthier choices using the NuVal scoring system, it also saves considerable time as most shoppers don’t have time to scrutinize or compare labels on the products they buy.
The NuVal nutritional scoring system was found not only to be beneficial to consumers, but to stores as well, since shoppers were more focused on store promotions than prices. Ultimately, consumers are willing to pay a bit more for products they feel confident have a higher value in terms of nutrition.
At REA JET, we know consumers would appreciate having a simple way to identify products that are truly nutritious, without having to try to decipher complicated nutrition labels.
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