Impact of label information on consumer assessment of soy-enhanced tomato juice

The impact of label information on the liking and closeness to ideal of tomato juice beverages was examined by having 100 judges assess 3 tomato juice beverages (Campbell's tomato juice, V8 juice, and an experimental tomato juice enhanced with soy) either with or without labeling information. Judges rated overall liking of each product and then rated appropriateness of various attributes (saltiness, tomato flavor, thickness, texture, red color, orange color, and brown color) on 5-point just-right scales. Only half of the judges were presented with product-related label information during evaluation. Overall liking scores were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA, whereas different attribute ratings were analyzed using Thurstonian Ideal Point modeling and Chi-square. Product-associated label information did not significantly alter overall liking ratings (P > 0.05), although a significant difference in liking was found between products (P < 0.05). Similarly, the label information did not impact comparison of product attribute levels to ideal attribute levels. Both V8 and Campbell's were significantly different from the ideal for 3 of the attributes (P < 0.05). For the soy-enhanced tomato juice, all 7 attributes were significantly different from the ideal (P < 0.05). In this instance, labeling information had no notable impact on assessments.