Abstract
Behavioral public policy increasingly employs nudging interventions such as front-of-pack nutrition labels (FOPNL) to promote healthier food choices. However, in Japan, it remains insufficiently understood how institutional trust shapes nudge acceptance and whether simplified nutrition labels remain effective under real-world cognitive constraints. This study develops an integrated framework linking institutional trust, nudge acceptance, and behavioral change, and provides empirical evidence on the behavioral and cognitive effectiveness of simplified nutrition labels.
An eye-tracking experiment with Japanese university students examined how interpretive nutrition labels influence decision-making under time pressure. Under a 5-second time constraint, simplified labels significantly improved decision quality while reducing cognitive load, demonstrating robust effectiveness even in cognitively constrained environments. Eye-tracking analysis further showed that simplified labels promote more focused visual attention and more efficient information processing.
These findings are positioned within an integrated analytical framework that incorporates nationwide randomized survey data, enabling examination of the causal pathway from institutional trust to healthier food choice mediated by nudge acceptance and perceived comprehensibility. Large-scale data provide additional support for external validity and deepen understanding of the mechanisms underlying policy acceptance.
This study provides behavioral evidence that simplified nutrition labels can improve decision quality without increasing cognitive burden. It contributes to behavioral public policy by identifying institutional trust as a key factor shaping nudge effectiveness and by offering policy-relevant insights for designing scalable and cognitively efficient nutrition-label systems to promote healthier food choices in real-world environments.