Abstract:
Food Safety Labels act as a vital link between consumers and the food industry, serving
as a mechanism for delivering health, nutrition, and safety information. However,
despite their importance, the effectiveness of these labels in shaping consumer buying
decisions remains underexplored in Sri Lanka. This research aimed to evaluate the
effectiveness of food safety labels in influencing consumer buying behavior,
particularly examining the impact of printed versus electronic advertisements within
the Homagama DS Division, Colombo District. A pre-tested, structured questionnaire
was distributed to 100 adult consumers selected through convenience sampling.
Quantitativ e datawere analy zed utllizing descriptive statistics and multiple reglession
analysis via SPSS version 22. Results indicated that both printed and electronic
advefiisements enhance consumer awareness; however, electronic media proved
marginally more effective due to its visual appeal and broader reach. Among the
independent variables, consumer awareness and understanding (p : 0.002), trust and
perceived quality (p: 0.001), and label design and format (p : 0.030) were statistically
significant at the 0.05 level, while information content (p : 0.082) wassignificant at
0.1 level. In contrast, health and content claims (p:0.817) showed no significant
impact on consumer buying behavior. Demographic factors showed no moderating
effect, indicating that perceptions of label reliability cut across socio-economic lines'
The research concludes that psychological and perceptual factors especially trust, label
design play a more crucial role than health content or demographics in shaping
consumer decisions. These findings highlight the need for integrated communication
strategies that combine accurate information with visually appealing and trustworthy
label presentations, offering practical insights for policymakers, regulatory authorities,
and manufacturers to enhance label credibility and promote healthier purchasing
decisions in Sri Lanka
