CLYMBOL: Role of health-related claims and symbols in consumer behaviour

Summary

Health claims and symbols on food labels are aids to help consumers identify foods that are healthier options, but little is known about their impact on consumer understanding, choice and consumption.

Departing from the outcomes of the FP7 project FLABEL (Food Labelling to Advance Better Education for Life), the 4 year research project CLYMBOL aims to determine how health-related claims and symbols are understood by consumers, and how they affect purchasing and consumption. Researchers will take into account the individual differences in needs and wants and country-specific differences with regard to the use of health claims and symbols.

CLYMBOL will produce a set of methods for policy-makers and the food industry to assess the effects of health claims and symbols on food labels as these appear on the market, and recommendations on how health claims and symbols can be used to strengthen informed choice, healthy eating and industrial competitiveness.

The project draws heavily on the involvement of stakeholders from the whole food sector to ensure results with high practical relevance.

Publications

Klepacz, N. A., Nash, R. A., Egan, M. B., Hodgkins, C. E., & Raats, M. M. (in press). When is an image a health claim? A false-recollection method to detect implicit inferences about products' health benefits. Health Psychology.

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