Energy Labelling for Alcohol Drinks in New Zealand: Consumers Perceptions and Impacts on Purchase Behaviour

Rationale: In 2016/2017, one in five (19.5%) New Zealand adults (≥15 years and older) had an alcohol drinking pattern that carriers a risk of harming the drinker or another, and one in three (32.9%) young adults aged 18 to 24 years are hazardous drinkers. To reduce alcohol-related harm and help New Zealanders make positive decisions about their alcohol use, strategies are needed that not only inform them about health risks but also alter the environment they find themselves in on a daily basis. Unlike most packaged food products, alcoholic beverages are not required to present a statement of the composition of the product, such as amount of alcohol, energy or the nutrient content. It has been suggested that in the absence of this information, consumers of alcohol have no idea how much energy, alcohol or kilojoules they are consuming. Research indicates that nutrition labelling of food and non-alcoholic beverage products does impact consumer perceptions and product evaluations. A recent poll by Stuff showed that 83% of 3,300 New Zealanders indicated that they want to know what they are consuming and supported placement of ingredients and nutritional information on alcohol products.

Objectives: To provide insight into consumers' awareness of energy in alcoholic beverages, and in their views on energy labelling of alcoholic beverages. The project also aims to explore the effects of different types of energy labelling on consumers alcohol purchase behaviour.

Design: Two-staged qualitative and quantitative study.

• Qualitative stage: Focus groups.
• Quantitative stage: Four-arm randomised controlled trial. This qualitative stage aims to test the effects of three different types of alcohol energy labels on alcoholic beverages on (online) purchase behaviour, compared to a control (no label) condition, using an 'online shopping cart'.

Recruitment: Panel.

Sample size: Qualitative stage: n=36 (six focus groups with six people per group); Quantitative stage: n=600 (n=150 participants per experimental condition).

Inclusion criteria

• are ≥18 years of age;
• having purchased and consumed at least one alcoholic beverage in the past month;
• be able to read English;
• reside in New Zealand;
• be a member of the online panel of "Research Now Survey Sampling International".

Exclusion criteria

• Participants not meeting the eligibility criteria will be excluded.