Economics Consumer economics

Skepticism about claims regarding sustainability reduces consumers’ intentions to purchase sustainable products by weakening two important drivers of green consumption: people’s willingness to look for trustworthy environmental information and their anticipated guilt about making less sustainable choices.

In line with globally recommended practices to reduce the dietary risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), the Sri Lankan government implemented a traffic-light labelling (TLL) system for sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) in August 2016. The purpose of the regulations was to educate the public on the sugar content in SSBs to promote healthy diets in Sri Lanka and reduce NCDs associated with a high sugar intake. It is timely to assess the effectiveness of TLL in encouraging healthier food choices. Based on an ongoing IPS study, this blog discusses consumers’ knowledge of TLL and how it impacts their SSB choices.