An empirical determination of consumers’ reaction to nutritional labeling of pre-packaged food products in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

The incidence of diet induced diseases such as cancer, high blood pressure, stroke, cardiovascular/heart disease, diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis and malnutrition are rampant in our world today and therefore topical. The practice of nutritional labeling is being advocated as a panacea for this malaise and hence a sizeable number of researches are being undertaken in this direction. Large chunk of these studies are concentrated in the advanced countries. Unfortunately, there is dearth of such studies in developing countries including Nigeria. Consequently, this study sought to empirically determine consumers’ reaction to nutritional labeling of pre-packaged food products in Nigeria. The study was purely descriptive and data collected aptly analyzed through the instrumentality of pertinent statistical tools. Findings show that consumers read, comprehend, trust the authenticity and are significantly aware of nutritional labeling and are able to relate the effects of nutrition information to their health. Not surprising therefore, consumers consciously search for nutrition information, which significantly influence their purchase decisions of these kinds of products. These results hold some implications for both policy-makers and pre-packaged food marketers. Further research should be in areas of quantity and position of disclosure of nutrition information and use of symbols in nutritional labeling in Nigeria.

Keywords

• Package labeling
• Nutrition information
• Pre-packaged food marketing
• Consumer choice
• Nigeria