INVESTING CHECKOFF DOLLARS
FOOD
LABEL FATIGUE Consumer survey shows Iowans find branding claims misleading
S
avvy shoppers avoid stale food. The same can be said for a majority of branding claims. Eight in 10 Iowans find food labels misleading, according to the Iowa Food & Family Project’s (Iowa FFP) annual Consumer Pulse Survey conducted among households’ primary food purchasers. This finding, along with 55 percent reporting attributes like “organic” or “all natural” have little to no influence on their purchasing decisions, shows Iowa grocery shoppers may be growing numb to the product packaging in their cart. “Shoppers are becoming increasingly indifferent to the flashy label claims food marketers are using, especially those that are rooted in misinformation,” says Aaron Putze, APR, Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) communications and external relations director. “Twentytwo percent said they don’t seek out information on food labels at all.” Now in its seventh year, the annual survey takes a pulse of Iowans’ food purchasing habits, including
22 | FEBRUARY 2019 | IASOYBEANS.COM
label influence and attitudes toward farming. Year-over-year findings drive ISA’s consumer engagement strategy, including Iowa FFP’s programming and content development. The November 2018 survey had 676 responses, made up of 295 Iowa FFP newsletter subscribers and 381 non-subscribers across the state. Respondents’ age groups, income levels, education levels and geographic regions closely follow the state’s population, resulting in a low margin of error of 3.79 percent. Blue Compass, a digital marketing agency in West Des Moines, conducted the survey analysis from data collected through Research Now’s business-toconsumer panel.
Label lookout According to the survey, three in four respondents seek information on food labels, but the intensity with which food labels influence purchase behavior wasn’t as evident as in previous years. Overall, nutrition and ingredients were
BY KELLY VISSER
the most influential parts of food labels with 24 percent of respondents selecting each as “extremely influential.” In looking at specific label attributes, more than half of more of respondents say the following attributes have no effect on purchases: • 50 percent reported “hormone-free” labels have no effect on purchase • 53 percent reported “antibiotic-free” labels have no effect on purchase • 53 percent reported “organic” labels have no effect on purchase • 58 percent reported “non-GMO” labels have no effect on purchase “The number of ‘organic’ or ‘nonGMO’ labels in grocery stores makes it seem that those are the only products consumers want,” says Shannon Latham, vice president of Latham Hi-Tech Seeds – one of Iowa FFP’s nearly 35 partner organizations. “It’s interesting to see many of these labels aren’t resonating as strongly with Iowa consumers.” Food quality is the most important factor to Iowans when they’re grocery
