Abstract Obesity is increasing in countries undergoing nutrition transition (e.g., Nepal) largely due to changing food environments. Food choices are influenced by marketing and packaging, including front-of-pack nutrition claims (FOPNCs). Although FOPNCs can help consumers identify healthful foods, these claims can also lead consumers to unduly attribute healthfulness to unhealthful food products. This study investigated the effects of FOPNCs on consumers’ purchase intentions and product perceptions of snack foods. Participants were 239 adult shoppers in Kathmandu, Nepal. Participants viewing product images rated purchase intentions and seven product perceptions (e.g., healthfulness, tastiness). Participants reported their two most important shopping priorities, and explained why they found a specific FOPNC to be truthful/influential or not. Path analyses of multiple mediation models showed that FOPNCs most often influenced the product perception of healthful for children, while product perceptions of tasty and adults like it were most predictive of purchase intention. Inductive thematic analysis of open-ended responses identified various reasons for trust and skepticism in FOPNCs. FOPNCs were largely described as useful, despite their inconsistent influence on perceptions. Thematic analysis of shopping priorities resulted in 10 themes; the three most prevalent were quality, familiarity, and taste. Only 12% of reported shopping priorities appeared to motivate the use of FOPNCs (i.e., health and nutrition and package labeling). Evidence that FOPNCs create health halos for snack foods did emerge. However, FOPNCs’ inconsistent or absent impact on most product perceptions and purchase intentions suggest that FOPNCs are not a primary contributor to increasing obesity during Nepal’s nutrition transition.

中文翻译：

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包装正面营养声明对尼泊尔消费者食品认知和购买意愿的影响 1

摘要 在经历营养转型的国家（例如尼泊尔），肥胖症正在增加，这主要是由于食物环境的变化。食物选择受营销和包装的影响，包括包装正面营养声明 (FOPNC)。尽管 FOPNC 可以帮助消费者识别健康食品，但这些声明也可能导致消费者过度地将健康归因于不健康的食品。本研究调查了 FOPNCs 对消费者购买意愿和休闲食品产品认知的影响。参与者是尼泊尔加德满都的 239 名成年购物者。查看产品图像的参与者对购买意图和七种产品感知（例如，健康、美味）进行评级。参与者报告了他们最重要的两个购物优先事项，并解释了为什么他们认为特定的 FOPNC 真实/有影响力。多重中介模型的路径分析表明，FOPNCs 最常影响对儿童健康的产品感知，而对美味和成人喜欢的产品感知最能预测购买意愿。对开放式回答的归纳主题分析确定了 FOPNC 中信任和怀疑的各种原因。FOPNCs 在很大程度上被描述为有用的，尽管它们对认知的影响不一致。对购物优先事项的专题分析产生了 10 个主题；最普遍的三个是质量、熟悉度和品味。只有 12% 的报告购物优先事项似乎促使使用 FOPNC（即健康和营养以及包装标签）。确实出现了 FOPNC 为休闲食品带来健康光环的证据。然而，