Health and nutrition claims are getting bigger attention in various countries around the world, since food producers have discovered their importance at achieving higher profits. Claims are source of information, which a consumer wants to get without additional research when facing packaging. Of course not everything is so simple, because food producers with demanding vocabulary can also discourage consumers from buying goods, even though their intention is just the opposite.
In the thesis we determined the recognizability, understandability and trust of consumers in health and nutrition claims, we also looked the impact of the claim on the purchase of food. The study included 70 people of various age groups of both genders from different parts of Slovenia. They filled in a newly structured anonymous questionnaire.
We estimate that health and nutrition claims do not have strong impact on consumers’ purchase of food and that there is no significant difference between genders. Results of our study show that consumers find health and nutrition claims, which they understand, more important than those they do not. More than half of consumers (53%), included in the study, occasionally read the information on food packaging.
Because of frequent misunderstanding of the scientific terms written in health and nutrition claims, greater informing and educating consumers would be necessary, so that they would be able to choose food based on their knowledge of principles of healthy nutrition. Country also plays a major role, because it can reduce a chance of misleading health and nutrition claims on food packaging with appropriate legislation.
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