Making salt-reduced products more appealing to consumers: Impact of front-of-pack messages on liking and table salt use over time

Objective: The current study investigated the impact of different front-of-pack messages on liking, salt perception and table salt use of salt-reduced soups over repeated consumption. Design: In a between-subjects design, participants consumed a chicken noodle soup five times over 3 weeks. Participants were assigned to one of five experimental conditions and were categorized into three 'Interest in Salt Reduction' groups based on their self-reported interest in salt reduction. They consumed a regular-salt soup or a 30 % salt-reduced soup, either with or without a front-of-pack message (nutritional, sensory or social based). Liking, salt perception and table salt use were measured at each consumption. Setting: Central location test. Subjects: British consumers (n 493) aged 24-65 years. Results: The soups remained stable in liking over repeated consumption, with no significant differences between the experimental conditions. However, liking did differ among the different Interest in Salt Reduction groups: the 'not aware, no action' group liked salt-reduced soups with a nutritional message the most, whereas the 'aware and action' group liked salt-reduced soups with a social message the most. There was no change in the amount of table salt added as people got more familiar with the salt-reduced soups, suggesting a strong role for habit in table salt use. Conclusions: It mattered whether consumers were thinking about reducing their salt intake or not: a communication message tailored to a country's interest in reducing salt is recommended to motivate consumers to lower their salt intake.