Econ Papers Daily / 期刊论文
消费者对添加糖披露的异质性反应：来自美国营养成分表更新的证据
Heterogeneous consumer responses to added sugar disclosures: Evidence from the U.S. nutrition facts panel update
摘要
In recent years, health and nutrition policies that spur behavioral change through the provision of information have risen in popularity, in part due to their relatively lower implementation costs. This study investigates the heterogeneous impact of the Nutrition Facts Panel (NFP) update, specifically focusing on the disclosure of added sugars on carbonated soft drink (CSD) consumption in the United States. Using NielsenIQ household panel data covering 9989 U.S. households between 2017 and 2020, we first estimate a difference-in-differences framework before and after label implementation as a baseline analysis. We find that the policy led to significant reductions in CSD purchases on average. We then use causal forest methods to examine heterogeneous treatment effects and show that the response varies systematically with household demographic and attitudinal characteristics. Lower-income and less-educated consumers exhibited stronger reductions, while higher-income, health-conscious households, who already prioritized healthier attributes, were less influenced. Consumers’ attitudes towards different food attributes also play a critical role. Scenario analyses suggest that predicted responsiveness to the disclosure varies across health-conscious preference dimensions, with modest associations among the least responsive households and more mixed patterns among high-consumption households. These findings underscore the importance of considering consumer heterogeneity in policy design and suggest that labeling policies could be complemented by targeted interventions to maximize their effectiveness.
中文摘要
近年来，通过提供信息以促进行为改变的健康与营养政策日益流行，部分原因在于其相对较低的实施成本。本研究考察营养事实标签（NFP）更新所带来的异质性影响，特别关注添加糖披露对美国碳酸软饮料（CSD）消费的作用。我们使用涵盖2017年至2020年间9989个美国家庭的NielsenIQ家庭面板数据，首先估计标签实施前后的双重差分框架作为基准分析。我们发现，该政策平均而言导致CSD购买显著减少。随后，我们使用因果森林方法考察异质性处理效应，并表明其反应会随家庭人口统计特征和态度特征而系统性变化。低收入和受教育程度较低的消费者表现出更强的减少，而已经优先考虑更健康属性的高收入、健康意识较强的家庭受到的影响较小。消费者对不同食品属性的态度也起着关键作用。情景分析表明，对披露的预测反应在不同健康意识偏好维度上存在差异，在反应最弱的家庭中关联较为温和，而在高消费家庭中则呈现更为混合的模式。这些发现凸显了在政策设计中考虑消费者异质性的重要性，并表明标签政策可以通过有针对性的干预措施加以补充，以最大化其有效性。