Evaluating Consumer Usage of Nutritional Labeling: The Influence of Socio-Economic Characteristics

Table 1 provides a descriptive tabulation of the explanatory variables used in this
analysis. Approximately 66 percent of respondents were female and 83 percent had
completed at least some college. About 58 percent of the participants were 49 years of
age or below, while approximately 37 percent of the respondents had annual
household incomes of less than $39,999. Approximately 33 percent purchased
groceries for children who lived in their household. About 13 percent lived in rural
areas while 8 percent lived in urban areas and 79 percent lived in suburban areas.

Empirical Results

The maximum likelihood estimates for frequent label usage are displayed in Table 2. A
number of previous studies have attempted to identify the household characteristics
that increase nutritional label usage among American households. Relatively few
demographic variables were found to be significant in more than one study. Males
have been reported to be less likely than females to make frequent use of nutritional
labeling (Guthrie et al.; Bender and Derby; Nayga). Consistent with these studies,
females were found to be 10 percent more likely to make use of food labeling when
making grocery-purchasing decisions than males. As the primary function of nutritional
labeling is to provide basis for making health and diet-related decisions, comparisons
can also be made with gender response to other food health issues. For instance, the
analysis results are also consistent with other studies which have demonstrated that
females are more concerned about and more knowledgeable of food issues than
males. Females have been found to be more risk averse to pesticide residues (Dunlap

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