Nutri-score front-of-package labels in the United States: Experimental evidence for asymmetric expectancy violation effects on consumer evaluations and consumption guilt

Nutrition labels on food packages are designed to guide consumers toward healthier choices by summarizing a product's healthfulness at a glance. Unlike the U.S. Nutrition Facts Label, the European Nutri-Score uses a color-coded, alphabetic scale that is easy to interpret but not routinely encountered in the U.S. market. Drawing on Expectancy Violation Theory (EVT), this study investigates how positive versus negative Nutri-Scores influence perceived healthfulness , attitudes , purchase intentions , and consumption guilt toward foods of different categories. Moderation effects of the magnitude of expectancy violations are also explored. In an online experiment with a U.S. sample ( N = 501), individuals evaluated coffee drinks, pretzel snacks, and frozen pizzas first with no Nutri-Score (t 1 ), and second with either positive (grade: A/B; color: green) or negative (grade: D/E; color: red) Nutri-Scores (t 2 ). Across food categories, negative Nutri-Scores reliably decreased perceived healthfulness , attitudes , and purchase intentions and increased consumption guilt . Positive Nutri-Scores produced more selective benefits: across categories, they increased perceived healthfulness , attitudes , and purchase intentions and reduced consumption guilt , with particularly consistent effects for pretzel snacks and frozen pizzas and more selective effects for coffee drinks. Moderation by expectancy violation was valence-asymmetric: effects of positive Nutri-Scores were generally stronger under higher expectancy violation, whereas evaluative declines under negative Nutri-Scores were often strongest under lower expectancy violation. Overall, the findings show that interpretive nutrition labels can shift both evaluations and anticipated consumption guilt, and that their effectiveness depends on expectation management when introduced in new markets. • Online pre–post experiment with N = 501 U.S. consumers on European Nutri-Score • Negative Nutri-Scores reduced perceived healthfulness, attitudes, intentions to buy • Positive Nutri-Scores increased these evaluations, with weaker effects for coffee • Positive and negative Nutri-Scores shifted anticipated consumption guilt • Higher expectancy violation particularly amplified positive Nutri-Score effects