Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-skm99 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T16:46:47.063Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

How much is a calorie worth? A study of willingness to pay for calorie labels in restaurant menus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 March 2019

SANA RAFIQ
SANA RAFIQ*
Affiliation:
Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge, MA, USA and Boston Consulting Group, Washington, DC, USA
*
*Correspondence to: Harvard Kennedy School, 79 John F. Kennedy St, Cambridge, MA02138, USA. Email: sanazulu@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We asked individuals about their willingness to pay (WTP) either: (1) for a mandate requiring restaurants to post calorie information on their menus; or (2) to avoid such a mandate. On average, more people were in in favor of the mandate and were willing to pay four times more than those who were against it, thereby leading to a Kaldor–Hicks improvement from this policy. To ensure robustness, we tested the impact of providing three types of information during individuals’ WTP determinations: (1) visual examples of the proposed calorie labels; (2) data on their effectiveness at the individual level; and (3) data on their wider social and economic benefits. For those in favor, providing a simple visual of the label had no impact on WTP. Data on the individual effectiveness of the labels increased the WTP, while evidence on broader obesity reduction and economic benefits reduced it. For opponents, WTP did not change with provision of additional information except when provided with information on social and economic benefits. Under this condition, the opponents increased their WTP 12-fold to avoid a mandate of this policy. Finally, we measured individual well-being under this policy and found directionally similar results, confirming a net improvement in aggregate welfare. Our results suggest that messaging that focuses on private benefits (providing calorie information so that individuals can effectively choose to reduce excessive caloric consumption) rather than wider public benefits (reduction in overall health-related costs and obesity) is more likely to be effective.

Type
Article
Information
Behavioural Public Policy , Volume 5 , Issue 3 , July 2021 , pp. 354 - 377
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abaluck, J. (2011). What Would We Eat if We Knew More: The Implications of a Large-Scale Change in Nutrition Labeling, Job Market Paper, MIT.Google Scholar
Abaluck, J. and Gruber, J. (2011), ‘Choice Inconsistencies among the Elderly: Evidence from Plan Choice in the Medicare Part D Program’, American Economic Review, 101(4): 1180–1210.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barber, Brad M., Odean, Terrance and Zheng, Lu. (2005), ‘Out of sight, out of mind: The effects of expenses on mutual fund flows’, The Journal of Business, 78(6): 2095–2120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beard, T., Nowson, C. and Riley, M. (2007), ‘Traffic-light food label’, Medical Journal of Australia, 186(1): 19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sara N, Bleich, & Keshia M, Pollack. (2010), ‘The publics' understanding of daily caloric recommendations and their perceptions of calorie posting in chain restaurants’, BMC Public Health, 10(1): 121.Google Scholar
Bollinger, B., Leslie, P. and Sorensen, A. (2011), ‘Calorie Posting in Chain Restaurants’, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 3(1): 91–128.Google Scholar
Bronsteen, J., Buccafusco, C. and Masur, J. (2013), ‘Well-Being Analysis Vs. Cost-Benefit Analysis’, Duke Law Journal, 62: 1603–1747.Google Scholar
Bureau of Labor Statistics (2015). Consumer expenditures in 2015 [www document]. Available at www.bls.gov/opub/reports/consumer-expenditures/2015/home.htmGoogle Scholar
Chu, Yong, Frongillo, Edward, Jones, Sonya and Kaye, Gail. (2009), ‘Improving patrons' meal selections through the use of point-of-selection nutrition labels’, The American Journal of Public Health, 99(11): 2001–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Deb, P. and Vargas, C. (2016). Who benefits from calorie labeling? An analysis of its effects on body mass. NBER Working Paper SeriesCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elbel, B., Kersh, R., Brescoll, V. and Dixon, L. (2009), ‘Calorie labeling and food choices: A first look at the effects on low-income people in New York City’, Health Affairs (Project Hope), 28(6): W1110–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellison, B., Lusk, J. and Davis, D. (2014), ‘The effect of calorie labels on caloric intake and restaurant revenue: evidence from two full-service restaurants’, Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, 46(2): 173–191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FDA (2015). Food labeling: Nutrition Labeling of Standard Menu Items in Restaurants and Similar Retail Food Establishments. Final Regulatory Impact Analysis, Silver Spring, MD, USA: US Food and Drug Administration.Google Scholar
FDA (2018). Menu Labeling Requirements [www document]. Available at: www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/LabelingNutrition/ucm515020.htmGoogle Scholar
Finkelstein, Strombotne, Chan, amd Krieger, . (2011), ‘Mandatory menu labeling in one fast-food chain in King County, Washington’, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 40(2): 122–127.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gneezy, U. and Rustichini, A. (2000), ‘A fine is a price’, The Journal of Legal Studies, 29(1): 1–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graham, J., Haidt, J., Nosek, B. and Carver, Charles S. (2009), ‘Liberals and conservatives rely on different sets of moral foundations’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96(5): 1029–1046.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harnack, Lisa J. and French, Simone A. (2008), ‘Effect of point-of-purchase calorie labeling on restaurant and cafeteria food choices’, The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 5(51): 51.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hirschman, E., Kahneman, D., Slovic, P. and Tversky, A. (1983), ‘Judgement under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases’, Journal of Marketing Research, 20(2): 217.Google Scholar
Sunstein, Cass. (2017). ‘They Ruined Popcorn’: On the Costs and Benefits of Mandatory Labels. Forthcoming, Law and Marketing, Gersen, Jacob and Steckel, Joel, eds, Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Swartz, J., Braxton, D. and Viera, A. (2011), ‘Calorie menu labeling on quick-service restaurant menus: An updated systematic review’, The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 8: 135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Variyam, J. and Cawley, J. (2006). Nutrition labels and obesity. NBER Working Paper Series, 11956.CrossRefGoogle Scholar