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Healthy or Hype? The Halo Effect

Behind Your Favorite Snacks

Every day, customers search how front-of-package claims By Saviola Barreto
through supermarket aisles for can influence consumer choices.
groceries only to find products This is known as the Halo Effect
that make bold claims about
their detailed nutritional This cognitive bias leads us to
information. Nutrition labels are cast judgments without having a
meant to inform and guide reason just because we see
consumers to make healthier terms like “organic", “no added
choices, but they subtly influence sugar’’, “excellent source of
not only consumers but also their vitamins’’, “high in protein’’, etc.
perspective on health, value, and Companies strategically position
quality, all while being key nutritional claims and use
manipulated by companies in attractive packaging to attract Regulatory bodies such as
Regulatory bodies such as
the name of “marketing consumers and influence their the U.S. Food and Drug
the U.S. Food and Drug
strategies’’. purchasing decisions, portraying Administration (FDA) and
Administration (FDA) and
their products as healthier or the European Food Safety
the European Food Safety
For instance, browsing through superior to others without Authority (EFSA) play an
Authority (EFSA) play an
the vegetable section, a shopper requiring them to read the full
important role in ensuring
glances at a bag of Nature’s nutritional label. important role in ensuring
that
are
food
labels
Promise frozen peas claiming to that food labels are
accurate, informative, and
be “organic”. Without reading the Companies even emphasise accurate, informative, and
not misleading, but they face
nutrition label, they tossed it in certain positive nutritional not misleading, but they face
some serious challenges in
their cart, thinking it was a aspects while understating the some serious challenges in
doing so.
“healthy’’ option. What they negative ones, like high sodium doing so.
might not realise is that the or sugar.
sodium content of this bag of
peas is 12 times (60 mg) the Serving size also plays a
sodium content of peas significant role in how consumers
consumed directly from a farm perceive a product's nutritional
(5 mg). It seems to me like profile. Manufacturers use a
Nature’s Broken Promise. This marketing strategy of often
common experience highlights setting serving sizes that are

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BUSINESS & ENTREPRENEURSHIP CLUB, ISWK