The Impact of the Australasian ‘Health Star Rating’, Front-of-Pack Nutritional Label, on Consumer Choice: A Longitudinal Study

Front-of-pack (FoP) nutrition labels are a widely deployed tool in public good marketing. This article reports on a field experimental test of the impact of one of these systems, the Australasian Health Star Rating system (HSR), on consumer choice in the breakfast cereals category in New Zealand. This study forms part of a time-series replication stream of research on this topic. The research applied a 2 × 2 factorial design with multiple replications to retail food consumers exiting from supermarkets in New Zealand. The first part of the time series, undertaken shortly after the HSR’s initiation in 2014, indicated that the HSR was ineffective. Between 2014 and 2016, commercial brands in the category within New Zealand massively promoted the HSR as a basis for consumer choice. The research presented in this article forms part of the second part of the series, undertaken in 2016, using an identical experimental methodology to the 2014 study. The results indicate that the HSR may be beginning to influence consumer choice as it was predicted to, but the impact of the system is still small, and statistically sub-significant, relative to other consumer decision inputs presented on the package.

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An Experimental Comparison of the Impact of ‘Warning’ and ‘Health Star Rating’ FoP Labels on Adolescents’ Choice of Breakfast Cereals in New Zealand

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu12061545 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (6) ◽

pp. 1545 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Robert Hamlin ◽

Benjamin Hamlin

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Experimental Comparison ◽

Vienna Convention ◽

Single Star ◽

Star Rating ◽

Stop Sign ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Nutritional Label ◽

The Difference ◽

The Impact

This research investigated the performance of the red, octagonal Vienna Convention traffic ‘STOP’ sign as a front of pack (FoP) warning nutritional label. While the Vienna Convention traffic light system is an established FoP label, the potential of the ‘STOP’ sign in the role has not been investigated. The performance of the ‘STOP’ label was compared with that of a single star (low nutritional value) Australasian Health Star Rating (HSR) label using a fractionally replicated Latin square design. The labels were presented on choice diads of cold breakfast cereal packets. The sample of 240 adolescents aged 16–18 was drawn from a secondary school in the South Island of New Zealand. A large and significant main effect was observed at the p < 0.01 level for the difference between the ’STOP’ sign and the control condition (no nutritional FoP label), and at p < 0.05 for the difference between the HSR and the ‘STOP’ label. There was no significant difference between the HSR FoP and the control condition. A significant non-additivity (interaction) (p < 0.01) was also observed via the fractional replication. The results indicate that the Vienna Convention ‘STOP’ sign is worthy of further research with regard to its potential as an FoP nutritional label.

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The impact of front-of-pack nutrition labels on consumer product evaluation and choice: an experimental study

Public Health Nutrition ◽

10.1017/s1368980014002997 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 18 (12) ◽

pp. 2126-2134 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Robert P Hamlin ◽

Lisa S McNeill ◽

Vanessa Moore

Keyword(s):

Independent Living ◽

Daily Intake ◽

Latin Square ◽

Product Evaluation ◽

Traffic Light ◽

Consumer Evaluations ◽

Nutrition Labels ◽

Nutritional Label ◽

The University ◽

The Impact

AbstractObjectiveThe present research was an experimental test that aimed to quantify the impact of two dominant front-of-pack (FOP) nutritional label formats on consumer evaluations of food products that carried them. The two FOP label types tested were the traffic light label and the Percentage Daily Intake.DesignA 4×5 partially replicated Latin square design was used that allowed the impact of the FOP labels to be isolated from the effects of the product and the consumers who were performing the evaluations.SettingThe experiment was conducted on campus at the University of Otago, New Zealand.SubjectsThe participants were 250 university students selected at random who met qualifying criteria of independent living and regular purchase of the products used in the research. They were not aware of the purpose of the research.ResultsThe presence of FOP labels led to significant and positive changes in consumer purchase intentions towards the products that carried them. These changes were not affected by the nature of FOP labels used, their size or the product nutritional status (good/bad) that they were reporting.ConclusionsThe result is consistent with the participants paying attention to the FOP label and then using it as an adimensional cue indicating product desirability. As such, it represents a complete functional failure of both of these FOP label types in this specific instance. This result supports calls for further research on the performance of these FOP labels before any move to compulsory deployment is made.

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The Impact of Star Ratings and Corporate Affiliation on Hotel Room Prices in Israel

Tourism and Hospitality Research ◽

10.1177/146735840000200107 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 27-36 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Aviad A. Israeli ◽

Natan Uriely

Keyword(s):

Positive Impact ◽

Rating System ◽

High Quality ◽

Price Variation ◽

Star Rating ◽

Hotel Room ◽

Pricing Decisions ◽

The Impact

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the pricing decisions of hotels in an effort to ascertain whether corporate affiliation and stars influence hotels' pricing decisions. The findings suggest that high-quality (ie four- and five-star) hotels tend to be affiliated with chains and signal this affiliation using a naming strategy. In addition, the industry-based star rating system explains a large part of the price variation. The impact of corporate affiliation, modelled as the size of the corporation, has a relatively smaller, but overall positive, impact on price. An investigation of different locations reveals that the intensity of corporate affiliation, and specific characteristics of the consumers' market in each location are also significant in explaining the hotels' pricing decisions.

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Uptake of Australia’s Health Star Rating System 2014–2019

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu12061791 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (6) ◽

pp. 1791 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Maria Shahid ◽

Bruce Neal ◽

Alexandra Jones

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

T Test ◽

Rating System ◽

Group Differences ◽

Nutrition Label ◽

Food Category ◽

Star Rating ◽

Annual Survey ◽

Retail Outlets ◽

Summary Data

In June 2014, Australia and New Zealand adopted a voluntary front-of-pack nutrition label, the Health Star Rating (HSR) system. Our aim was to assess its uptake in Australia in the five years following adoption and examine the feasibility of proposed targets for future uptake. Numbers and proportions of products eligible to carry a HSR were recorded each year between 2014 and 2019 as part of an annual survey of four large Australian retail outlets. Uptake was projected to 2024. Mean HSR values were determined for products that were, and were not labelled with a HSR logo, and summary data presented overall, by HSR score, by major food category, by manufacturer and manufacturer group. Differences in mean HSR were assessed by independent samples t-test. HSR uptake continues to increase, appearing on 7118/17,477 (40.7%) of eligible products in 2019. Voluntary display of the HSR logo was increasing linearly at 6.8% annually. This would need to be maintained to reach 70% by 2024. Of those products displaying a HSR logo, more than three quarters (76.4%) had a HSR ≥ 3.0. Products displaying a HSR logo had a significantly higher mean HSR (3.4), compared to products not displaying a HSR logo (2.6) (p < 0.001). One hundred and thirty-nine manufacturers were using HSR, but retailers Coles, Woolworths and ALDI were together responsible for the majority of uptake (55.9%). Manufacturer members of the Australian Food and Grocery Council were responsible for 28.6% of uptake. Our findings illustrate the limits of commercial goodwill in applying HSR voluntarily. Ongoing implementation must pair clear targets and timelines for uptake with a firm pathway to make HSR mandatory if sufficient progress is not achieved.

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Comparing faers and twitter data on high-risk medications for the elderly and the impact on the cms star rating system

Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy ◽

10.1016/j.sapharm.2017.03.017 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. e20

Author(s):

Michael Peters ◽

Kyle Hultgren

Keyword(s):

High Risk ◽

The Elderly ◽

Rating System ◽

Star Rating ◽

Twitter Data ◽

The Impact

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Objective understanding of the Nutri-score front-of-pack label by European consumers and its effect on food choices: an online experimental study

International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity ◽

10.1186/s12966-020-01053-z ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Manon Egnell ◽

Zenobia Talati ◽

Pilar Galan ◽

Valentina A. Andreeva ◽

Stefanie Vandevijvere ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Choice ◽

Nutritional Quality ◽

Food Choices ◽

Rating System ◽

Nutrition Labels ◽

Star Rating ◽

Logistic Regression Models ◽

Traffic Lights ◽

Food Packages ◽

Objective Understanding

Abstract Background The effectiveness of Front-of-Pack nutrition Labels (FoPLs) may be influenced by national context. In light of the ongoing efforts to harmonize FoPLs across Europe, this study aimed to compare the effectiveness of five FoPLs (Health Star Rating system, Multiple Traffic Lights, Nutri-Score, Reference Intakes, Warning symbols) on consumer understanding and food choice in 12 European countries. Methods In 2018–2019, for three food categories, approximately 1000 participants per country were asked to select which food they would prefer to purchase between three products with distinct nutritional quality profiles, and then to rank the products by nutritional quality. Participants (N = 12,391 in total) completed these tasks first with no FoPL and then, after randomization to one of the five FoPLs, with a FoPL on the food packages. Associations between FoPLs and change in (i) nutritional quality of food choices and (ii) ability to correctly rank the products by nutritional quality were assessed with logistic regression models adjusted for sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics of participants, conducted overall and by country. Findings Compared with the Reference Intakes, the Nutri-Score (OR = 3.23[2.75–3.81]; p < 0.0001), followed by the Multiple Traffic Lights (OR = 1.68[1.42–1.98]; p < 0.0001), was the most effective FoPL in helping consumers identify the foods’ nutritional quality, overall and in each of the 12 countries. Differences between FoPLs regarding food choice modifications were smaller, but the effect of the Nutri-Score seemed slightly higher in eliciting healthier food choices overall compared with the Reference Intakes, followed by the Warning symbols, the Multiple Traffic Lights and the Health Star Rating system. Interpretation In the context of FoPL harmonization in Europe, these findings from an online experiment provide insights into the Nutri-Score’s effectiveness on European consumers.

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RITS: A Toolbox for Assessing Complex Interventions via Interrupted Time Series Models

10.21203/rs.3.rs-322376/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Maricela Francis Cruz ◽

Marco A. Pinto-Orellana ◽

Daniel L. Gillen ◽

Hernando Ombao

Keyword(s):

Time Series ◽

Change Point ◽

Complex Interventions ◽

Interrupted Time Series ◽

Correlation Structure ◽

Experimental Methodology ◽

Post Intervention ◽

Correlation Structures ◽

The Mean ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background: Various interacting and interdependent components comprise complex interventions. These components create difficulty in assessing the true impact of interventions designed to improve patient-centered outcomes. Interrupted time series (ITS) designs borrow from case-crossover designs and serve as quasi-experimental methodology able to retrospectively assess the impact of an intervention while accounting for temporal correlation. While ITS designs are aptly situated for studying the impacts of large-scale public health policies, existing ITS software implement rigid ITS methodology that often assume the pre- and post-intervention phases are fully differentiated (by a known change-point or set of time points) and do not allow for changes in both the mean functions and correlation structure. Results: This article describes the Robust Interrupted Time Series (RITS) toolbox, a stand-alone user-friendly application researchers can use to implement flexible ITS models that estimate the lagged effect of an intervention on an outcome, level and trend changes, and post-intervention changes in the correlation structure, for single and multiple ITS. The RITS toolbox incorporates a formal test for the existence of a change in the outcome and estimates a change-point over a set of possible change-points defined by the researcher. In settings with multiple ITS, RITS provides a global over-all units change-point and allows for unit-specific changes in the mean functions and correlation structures. Conclusions: The RITS toolbox is the first piece of software that allows researchers to use flexible ITS models that test for the existence of a change-point, estimate the change-point (if estimation is desired), and allow for changes in both the mean functions and correlation structures at the change point. RITS does not require any knowledge of a statistical (or otherwise) programming language, is freely available to the community, and may be downloaded and used on a local machine to ensure data protection.

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Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO): The Impact of a Trans-Tasman Classification on Labour Market Data

Labour Employment and Work in New Zealand ◽

10.26686/lew.v0i0.1654 ◽

1970 ◽

Author(s):

Andrew Hancock

Keyword(s):

Time Series ◽

New Zealand ◽

Labour Market ◽

Skill Levels ◽

Standard Classification ◽

The Impact ◽

The Relationship ◽

Standard Framework ◽

Classification Structure

The introduction of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) into statistical collections, particularly the 2006 Census of Population and Dwellings, has enabled the first real comparison of occupation data using a consistent standard framework between Australia and New Zealand. The paper discusses the issues of introducing a harmonised classification into statistical collections and the impact for time-series and comparability of occupation data. Issues related to what to include in the classification structure, to ensure consistency in skill levels and to establish a framework that is practical for both countries to produce occupation data on will be examined. This paper will also discuss whether ANZSCO meets the need as a standard framework and introduces a strategy for ongoing maintenance and ensuring relevance and consistency moving into the future. In addition, commentary on the relationship with the 2008 International Standard Classification of Occupations will be provided.

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