The Effects of Stimulus and Consumer Characteristics on the Utilization of Nutrition Information

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].. This research investigates the effects of consumer characteristics (e.g., familiarity and enduring motivation) and stimulus characteristics (e.g., information format and content) on the utilization of nutrition information. Results indicate that both types of characteristics influence information processing and decision quality. Moreover, stimulus characteristics, in general, were found to facilitate these activities irrespective of consumer differences.sure that adequate opportunity for good nutrition and adequate knowledge about how to use available foods effectively for individual and family health is available easily and continually at the community level to people in all walks of life. [WHITE D espite widespread support for adequate nutrition information and its use, 20 years of research indicates that this goal has not been achieved. Research suggests that consumers do not utilize nutrition in-Although previous research is an aid in understanding the use of nutrition information, the role of both consumer and stimulus characteristics has not been studied systematically. Despite this deficiency, both public policy and marketing strategy decisions involving nutrition information continue to be made. The present research addresses existing gaps in knowledge by investigating the effects of two stimulus characteristics and a variety of consumer characteristics on nutrition information utilization. Specifically, this article presents results from an experiment designed to understand the effects of both types of characteristics on information processing and behavioral outcomes. In addition, theoretical and managerial implications are discussed, and future research needs are identified. Figure 1 depicts stimulus and consumer characteristics as two key antecedents of motivation and ability to process a message containing nutrition information .' Research concerning stimulus characteristics, which include information content and format, suggests that consumers utilize more nutrition information when it is presented in an easily processed form Consumer characteristics include such individual differences as enduring interest in health and nutrition information, nutritional knowledge , and such demographic factors as education and age. Existing research indicates that consumers with prior nutritional knowledge utilize more nutrition information than those with no prior knowledge (Brucks et al. 1984; Jacoby et al. 1977). Figure 1 shows that the antecedent conditions of consumer and stimulus characteristics encourage or discourage motivation and ability to …