A red code triggers an unintended approach motivation toward sweet ultra-processed foods: Possible implications for front-of-pack labels

Front-of-package labels (FOPL) are recommended to reduce consumer intake of ultra-processed food products (UPP). The multiple traffic-light label is one example of FOPL that indicates the content of target nutrients in products by displaying red (high), amber (medium), and/or green (low) color-coding. The red code may implicitly enhance sweetness perception and approach dispositions toward sweet UPP via cross-modal visual-taste interactions. We conducted two experiments to examine the possibility of contradictory influence of explicitly learned and implicit cross-modal associations on the emotional responses evoked by UPP pictures. In both experiments, we first explicitly associated the color codes with health-related meanings. In Experiment I (n = 78), a psychometric tool estimated the emotional responses (pleasantness and arousal ratings) evoked by UPP pictures when preceded by red, amber, or green color-codes. In Experiment II (n = 24), we recorded participants’ electrocortical brain activity to assess the early posterior negativity (EPN) component as an index of the emotional responses to UPP. The reported pleasantness (Experiment I) and the EPN amplitude (Experiment II) were greater for sweet UPP relative to salty UPP when primed with red codes but not when primed with green or amber. A red code increased positive emotions toward sweet UPP despite its explicit association with increased health-risks. Thus, the use of multiple traffic-lights might lead to an unintended implicit approach behavior toward sweet UPP. Designers, researchers, and policy makers may consider color-taste cross-modal associations when designing, testing, and applying FOPL.     

新中国早期产品品牌命名和设计范式探究——以烟标为例

新中国早期产品品牌的命名和设计,在政治内容、审美趣味与商业企图之间获得了平衡。构建了易于被大众接受,群众喜闻乐见,紧随时代潮流的命名和设计范式。其中,以烟标最为典型,散发出鲜明的视觉特色和独有魅力,给人们留下诸多的回忆。为新中国立国建国、经济建设、航天国防、友好和平和文化生活等方面信息的传播和价值观的塑造,作出了不可忽视的贡献,也为现代产品品牌的命名和设计提供了早期的范式参考。     

Surprise labels increase indulgent food portion size choice

Food package labels can significantly influence food portion size choice. In this research we investigate whether package labels featuring the word ‘surprise’ influence food portion size choice of hedonic snacks. Surprise appeals are used frequently by the food industry to encourage product choice (e.g., surprise menus at restaurants), but their effect on portion size choice is not yet well understood. In four experimental studies, we investigate the effect of surprise labels—without changing the level of information about the product—on food portion size choice. We consistently find that surprise labels (e.g., surprise chocolates box)—compared to conventional labels (e.g., chocolates box)—increase food portion size choice. We furthermore show that this effect is driven by an increase in anticipated enjoyment associated with the surprise-labeled snack. Theoretically, our findings contribute to literature on the implications of the halo effect in food portion size choice by showing that a surprise label triggers a positive halo effect and thereby increases portion size choice.     

The wine headache: Consumer perceptions of sulfites and willingness to pay for non-sulfited wines

A panel of 223 alcohol consumers recruited in a liquor store participated in a survey/best–worst experiment investigating perceptions on sulfites and willingness to pay for non-sulfited wines. We find that 34% of our sample experiences headaches after consuming moderate amounts of wine, and sulfites are the most frequently attributed cause. Based on a rank ordered logit estimation of best–worst choices, headache syndrome sufferers are willing to pay a ceteris paribus premium of $1.23 per bottle to avoid added sulfites. However, results from a (logit) model of purchase intentions suggest that quality and price are most important, with differentiating labels (no sulfite added, organic) playing only a marginal role. Marketing implications for the wine industry are offered, and negative perceptions toward sulfites are contextualized within the hypothesis of a “lightning rod” effect induced by the “contains sulfites” warning label.     

Evaluation of suitable locations for the installation of solar thermoelectric power plants

The aim of the present paper is to determine the best location to host a solar thermoelectric power plant. We will seek to show how Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) such as the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS method) and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), are an excellent combination to solve complex locations problems. The coast of the Region of Murcia in the southeast of Spain has been chosen as the study area to carry out this evaluation.The GIS will be shown to be a very useful tool, since GIS are able to generate a database which serves as a starting point for conducting any decision support system. The posed problem will be resolved using restrictions to reduce the area of study, and the criteria that will influence the decision-making. These criteria will be of different natures; with quantitative criteria (numerical values) coexisting with qualitative criteria (labels and linguistic variables). In this article, AHP will be used to obtain the weights of the criteria, and the fuzzy TOPSIS method for the evaluation of the alternatives. In order to compare the results obtained with TOPSIS, the ELECTRE-TRI methodology will be applied.     

Contribution of green labels in electricity retail markets to fostering renewable energy

In European countries, retailers are obliged to disclose the energy source and the related environmental impacts of their portfolio over the preceding year. The electricity supplied in the Dutch retail market is presented as renewable energy for 34%, but this relatively high share is for 69% based on certificates (Guarantees of Origin) which are imported from in particular Norway. The certificates are used to sell green electricity to consumers. The premium for green electricity which is actually paid by Dutch consumers is no more than a few percentages of the retail price. The low level of this premium is related to the abundant supply of certificates at low marginal costs from Norway. This also means that the premium for green electricity is too low to give an incentive for investments in new capacity. Hence, the current labelling system for renewable electricity is mainly valuable, besides being an instrument for tracking and tracing of renewable energy, as a marketing instrument for electricity retailers. The effectiveness of Guarantees of Origin as a policy instrument to foster renewable electricity sources is weak. This effectiveness can be raised by implementing restrictions on the international trade or the issuance of new certificates.     

Combination of multiple diverse classifiers using belief functions for handling data with imperfect labels

This paper addresses the supervised learning in which the class memberships of training data are subject to ambiguity. This problem is tackled in the ensemble learning and the Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence frameworks. The initial labels of the training data are ignored and by utilizing the main classes’ prototypes, each training pattern is reassigned to one class or a subset of the main classes based on the level of ambiguity concerning its class label. Multilayer perceptron neural network is employed to learn the characteristics of the data with new labels and for a given test pattern its outputs are considered as basic belief assignment. Experiments with artificial and real data demonstrate that taking into account the ambiguity in labels of the learning data can provide better classification results than single and ensemble classifiers that solve the classification problem using data with initial imperfect labels.     

Consumer Attention to an Over‐the‐counter Warning in Four Different Styles of Design

The study consisted of three objectives: (a) to test the relative prominence and conspicuousness of a warning required by US law to be conspicuous; (b) to explore whether or not the conspicuousness of the said warning can be enhanced graphically; and (c) to develop preliminary data for power analysis that would guide decisions related to sample size in future studies. Seventeen subjects viewed four over‐the‐counter drug packages (each with a different style of warning) along with five other products while wearing an eye tracking device. Four styles of warning were used on the over‐the‐counter drug packages: no outline and no fill, outline and no fill, no outline and fill, and outline and fill. The surface area and the placement of the warnings were held constant across all four designs and were consistent with those on commercially available products. Collected data were broken into five zones: warning, brand name, strength, product benefit and net weight. Despite the fact that US law requires it to be conspicuous, the tested warning was significantly less noticeable than the brand name (objective one) for all dependent variables analyzed (α = 0.05). No significant difference was indicated for the varied warning designs (objective two). This could be because not much can be done to enhance prominence when constrained to the limited space that is typically used for such warnings or because of the limited sample size. Power calculations suggest that a sample size of nearly 200 subjects would be required to detect a 2.5 s mean difference at 80% confidence (objective three). Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis and Degradation of Hexamethylene Triperoxide Diamine (HMTD)

The synthesis and decomposition of hexamethylene triperoxide diamine (HMTD) were studied. Mechanisms were proposed based on isotopic labeling and mass spectral interpretation of both condensed phase products and head‐space products. Formation of HMTD from hexamine appeared to proceed from dissociated hexamine as evident from scrambling of the ¹⁵N label when synthesis was carried out with equal molar labeled/unlabeled hexamine. Decomposition of HMTD was considered with additives and in the presence and absence of moisture. In addition to mass spectral interpretation, density functional theory (DFT) was used to calculate energy differences of transition states and the entropies of intermediates along different possible decomposition pathways. HMTD is destabilized by water and citric acid making purification following initial synthesis essential in order to avoid unanticipated violent reaction.     

食品市场职业打假人权利的法律边界

聚焦食品市场，从职业打假案件的诉讼现状入手，总结分析了目前理论与实务中关于职业打假行为存在的问题与争议，讨论了职业打假人知假买假的权利保护限制必要性，并尝试从多个层面对其职业打假行为进行引导规制，如明确职业打假人的法律地位、引导打假行为正当化规范化等。