The influence of health star rating labels on plant-based foods: The moderating role of consumers' believability

Plant-based meat analogues have been increasingly used by consumers as a replacement for traditional meat to supplement their daily nutritional intake. With the perspective that health is a key motivator for plant-based food consumption, this research investigates how health star rating (HSR) labels inform consumers' perceived healthiness and purchase intentions of plant-based versus animal-based food products. Further, we investigate how this effect is influenced by varying levels of perceived believability in product package information. A study was conducted in March 2022 with a sample of 582 U.S. residents. Findings from our study indicate that when perceived believability in product package information is low, a HSR label is more effective in influencing consumers' perceived healthiness of the plant-based product as compared to the animal-based product. However, as perceived believability in product package information increases, the positive effect of the HSR label on perceived healthiness diminishes for the plant-based product but increases for the animal-based product. The outcome of this research contributes to theory and practice by understanding how health labels may affect consumers' perceptions of plant-based versus animal-based foods.