Labels make us like chicken more

Sunday, November 8, 2015

The choice of labels influences how much we enjoy our chicken, Meatingplace reports.

A study entitled "Effects of Label Understanding on Sensory Acceptability of Chicken Products" by graduate student Shilpa Samant of the University of Arkansas has found that consumers' "sensory perception" of poultry products is affected by their opinion of its labels.

"Our findings showed higher understanding and trust in sustainability and process-related claims among consumers result in higher quality perception and sensory acceptability of chicken meat products," Samant said in a university news release. This means that if chicken is labelled with something the consumer views as positive – such as "organic" or "no hormones added" – the consumer's physical and sensory experience is better than if the product has labels the consumer didn't understand or disagreed with.

Samant's study won the Rose Marie Pangborn Graduate Paper Competition at an annual competition, Meatingplace reports. BF