Comparison of visual attention and purchase intention of traffic light and warning disc supplementary nutritional labels in the Zamorano University student population

Malnutrition is a health condition that either excise or deficient nutrient consumption can characterize. In the Latin American region, while there is still a high prevalence of undernutrition, the region also suffers from obesity, with an estimate that one in four adults is obese. One of the main drivers of the increasing prevalence of obesity is the poor quality of the diet, which commonly includes food items with excess calories, sodium, sugars, and saturated fats. (United Nations Children's Fund [UNICEF] et al., 2021). Nutritional labeling is how nutritional information on food packaging is presented to consumers. However, traditional or codex Alimentarius-approved labels are not always easy to understand, thus, limiting the capacity of consumers to make educated decisions about their food consumption. In this context, interpretative schemes such as supplementary nutritional information labels are an easier-to-understand alternative (PAHO and WHO, 2022). These supplementary nutritional information labels aim to prevent the excessive consumption of calories, sodium, and fat, among other nutrients (Ikonen et al., 2020). The traffic light and the warning disc are the most popular supplementary nutritional labels. The traffic light and the warning disc have been implemented in many countries, such as Ecuador and Mexico in Latin America. Most of the research that supports the adoption of either label focuses on the understanding of the labels by consumers. Little research focuses on actual visual attention to the labels and their potential impact on purchase intention. Therefore, the objective of this research was to evaluate visual attention and purchase intention when the traffic light and warning disc supplementary nutrition labels are present in processed and ultra-processed food products. Additionally, the influence of gender, prior knowledge, and use of front labeling, among other variables, type of diet, and physical activity on purchase intentions in Zamorano University students were evaluated. Methodology. The participants for this study were recruited from Zamorano University, located at km 33 on the Pan-American highway from Tegucigalpa to Danlí, Honduras. 90 undergraduate students completed a survey and were exposed to 10 food processed and ultra-processed product labels. Participation was voluntary, anonymous and no compensation was given to participants. The survey and labels were uploaded to the iMotions software, which allowed measuring visual attention to the labels using eye-tracking technology (Figure 1). Table 1 shows the labels used on this research, which were selected by convenience, considering sales volume in the university´s mini-market and the potential for various supplementary labels. Traffic light labelling and warning disc labels were placed on the packaging of each product, without altering the original design. For the analysis, a Completely Randomized Design (DCA) was used. Where 3 treatments were evaluated, which were: a control (T1) that were the packaging of the products without labeling. The second treatment was packaging with traffic light labeling (T2) and the last treatment was product packaging with warning labeling (T3). Each students was assigned to only one treatment. The null hypothesis of the DCA was that the purchase intention of each food product was the same for all three treatments. Multiple-lineal regression where the dependent variable was purchase Intention (expressed in a scale from 1 and 10) allowed to evaluate the impact of gender, knowledge of Front labeling, use of Front labeling, healthy consumption habits, and physical activity on purchase intention, in addition to being exposed to the supplementary nutritional labels. Students were first exposed to the labels, asked their purchase intention after each label, and then asked the questionnaire. Key Findings. Of the 90 participants, 63% were men between the ages of 20 and 21. The countries with the greatest participation were Honduras, El Salvador, Ecuador, and Guatemala, which had first-year, second-year, third-year, and fourth-year students from all the university´s academic departments. The results indicated that the participants perform physical activity at least 5 times a week in the "learn by doing" activities. However, in their daily lives, students are characterized by having a moderate level of physical activity. Also, interest in a healthy lifestyle and healthy eating (18%) is not a goal that students have set. In fact, most students had received nutritional training at the university, without this influencing their of processed and ultra-processed food products. For this reason, having nutritional knowledge does not mean that it is always applied when making decisions about the foods to be consumed. Most of the students made a very vague use of any nutritional information, regarding it be the codex alimentarious labels or the traffic and warning disc lables (28% if they use it) since they mention that sometimes (56%) pay attention to it. Also, students were more interested in supplementary traffic light frontal labeling (61%) than warning frontal labeling. According to the eye-tracking measures, the first object students observed in the labels was expiration or use by date, while all nutritional labelling receiving more revisits in average. The high level of revisits to nutritional information suggest multiple attempts to understand the object in the labes. In conclusion, students did pay attention to the supplementary nutritional labels of traffic lights and warning discs, however, it did not influence their purchase intention of the food products. Between the two, students indicated a preference for the traffic light over the warning disc. No other variables, such as physical activity and nutritional knowledge, had an influence on the purchase intention of the food items used in this research. This research suggests that college students consume processed and ultra-processed food products because they like them, regardless of their nutritional knowledge, lifestyle, and understanding of the supplementary nutritional labels, and yet.