Importance of Menu Labeling when Selecting a Restaurant by Colombian and American Consumers Considering their Health Concern

Introduction: Restaurants may offer food that promotes obesogenic environments, but consumers may react differently based on their health concerns. Some governments have implemented menu labeling (ML) to intervene in such environments. However, it is unknown whether ML is important for consumers when they select a restaurant, even more so when comparing consumers who are familiar with ML to those who are not. Objective: To determine whether there are differences in the importance that Colombian consumers (unfamiliar with ML) and American consumers (familiar with it) attribute to menu labeling when they select a restaurant based on their health concern. Methods: This was a secondary analysis using data from the study “Nutritional Nudges at Restaurants: Establishments Adoption and Perceptions by Consumers.” The subsample included 150 Americans and 121 Colombians (N = 271). Consumers responded to a 7- 7-point Likert scale that asked them to indicate the importance that they attributed to menu labeling (IML) when selecting a restaurant. A regression analysis was conducted. Explanatory variables considered were country, demographics (sex, age, education level, body mass index), and psychographics (hunger level and health concern). Results: Differences in IML were found between consumers based on their country (p < 0.01). Age, level of hunger, and health concerns were identified as explanatory variables of IML. The variation in IML, according to the health concern level, was different between Colombians and Americans. Colombian consumers, even having a high health concern, assign significantly lower importance to IML compared to Americans (p < 0.01). Conclusions: When selecting a restaurant, Colombian and American consumers showed significant differences in the importance they attribute to menu labeling. If ML were to be implemented in Colombia, it would be necessary to convince even those segments of the population with high health concerns of its importance. Conflicts of Interest: none