Abstract With more labels appearing on food products, it becomes questionable how many add relevant information to consumers. Some products have labels conveying no, redundant, or minimal information, while others have multiple labels that contain overlapping information. The expansion of these types of minimal-information labeling suggests a perception among marketers that labels improve consumers’ perceptions and increase willingness to pay (WTP). Using watermelons, field experiments with 328 participants were conducted to estimate WTP differences between (1) a product with a minimal-information label and no label; and (2) a product with a minimal-information label with and without an overlapping label. While the minimal-information label added nothing new about the origin of the watermelon (redundant information), added minimal information on taste, and provided no mention of food safety (no information), perceptions among participants of all these attributes positively and significantly increased in both label comparisons. The WTP for the product with a minimal-information label also increased, demonstrating consumers will sacrifice real money for products with these labels. The evidence suggests that labels have capabilities to shape perceptions and influence WTP even beyond those attributes they make a claim regarding.

中文翻译：

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传达最少、冗余或无信息的标签是否会影响消费者的认知和支付意愿？

摘要 随着越来越多的标签出现在食品上，有多少向消费者添加相关信息就变得令人怀疑。一些产品的标签传达无信息、冗余信息或最少信息，而其他产品的标签包含重叠信息。这些类型的最小信息标签的扩展表明营销人员认为标签可以改善消费者的看法并增加支付意愿（WTP）。使用西瓜，对 328 名参与者进行了现场实验，以估计 (1) 带有最小信息标签和没有标签的产品之间的 WTP 差异；(2) 带有和不带有重叠标签的最小信息标签的产品。虽然最小信息标签没有添加关于西瓜来源的新信息（冗余信息），添加了关于口味的最少信息，并且没有提及食品安全（无信息），参与者对所有这些属性的看法在两个标签比较中都积极且显着增加。带有最小信息标签的产品的支付意愿也增加了，这表明消费者会为带有这些标签的产品牺牲真钱。证据表明，标签具有塑造认知和影响 WTP 的能力，甚至超出了他们声称的那些属性。