Investigating the Perceptual and Attitudinal Responses of Consumers Toward Health Halo Labels in Food Products:A Kolkata-Based Study

A health halo effect is known to evolve when consumers are presented with a solitary nutritional product-centric attribute, and they typically tend to overestimate the same over all the other unmentioned product attributes. The health halo label relatively plays with the mind of the target customers, pillared on the labelling of the food product. This, subsequently is perceived by them as a positive attribute about the food product. The current study is an attempt to probe into the manner in which versatile health halo labels imprinted on food products shape the perceptions and attitudes of consumers, and consequently provokes them to opt for the same. The study examines the impact of certain demographic factors (such as age, gender, and occupational status) on the purchase inclinations toward food products with health halo labels imprinted on them, and further assess whether such labels trigger any significant impact in terms of purchase decision by consumers, while unravelling the plausible reasons for the same. To this end, a structured questionnaire was administered to a conveniently selected sample of 150 respondents based in the metropolitan city of Kolkata, West Bengal. The responses obtained were statistically analyzed using SPSS software, and the impact was measured using various univariate and bivariate statistical measures. The study reveals that gender, as a demographic construct, had a significant influence on the nutritional claims made by the products. In essence, the health halo labels are known to make a significant impact in altering the perceptual and attitudinal trajectories of consumers with respect to the product, thereby triggering a favorable purchase inclination toward the food products.