Perceived effect of warning label on parental food purchasing and drivers of food selection among South African parents–An exploratory study

Abstract

Household food purchasing decision is a complex process influenced by factors such as marketing, cost, children food preference and parental choices. Most food products targeted toward children are unhealthy and are aggressively marketed to increase desirability among parents and children making healthier food selection even harder. The warning label (WL) is identified as a simple front-of-package labeling format that assist consumers to easily identify unhealthy foods and reduce their purchasing. This was a qualitative study that aimed to investigate the perceived eect of the warning label (WL) on parental food purchasing and drivers of food selection among parents. The study was conducted in a mainly rural part of South Africa, in Limpopo Province.