The effectiveness of sugar-sweetened beverage warning labels: An examination of consumer reactance and cost of compliance

•Cost of compliance moderates the sugar-sweetened beverage warning label effects on behavioral compliance.•Sugar-sweetened beverage warning labelsare effective when value size pricing is removed.•Reactance to warning labels is reduced when marketers employ proportional pricing strategies.•Marketing strategies and public policy have a vital role in reducing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. In light of public policy initiatives to curb the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB), the current research examines when SSB warning labels are likely to be effective. The purpose of two empirical studies was to analyze cost of compliance as a moderator of behavioral compliance with a warning and whether the mediating effect of SSB warning labels on behavioral compliance through reactance was conditioned on the cost of compliance. The results showed that, when marketers remove beneficial pricing for larger beverage sizes (i.e., a proportional pricing strategy is used), SSB warning labels have the intended consequences, with consumers reporting lower reactance levels to such measures. This research provides evidence that beverage companies can play a substantial role in warning label efficacy by reevaluating their current pricing strategies; this is vital for generating business and policy interventions that improve consumers’ health and wellbeing.