Sustainable Production and Consumption 17 (2019) 108–115 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Sustainable Production and Consumption journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/spc Research article Effectiveness of sustainability labels in guiding food choices: Analysis of visibility and understanding among young adults Azzurra Annunziata a,* , Angela Mariani a , Riccardo Vecchio b a Department of Economics and Legal Studies, University of Naples Parthenope, Italy b Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Italy article info Article history: Received 10 May 2018 Received in revised form 31 August 2018 Accepted 27 September 2018 Available online xxxx Keywords: Food consumption Sustainability labels Online survey Label understanding Consumption frequency abstract The increasing demand for sustainable food products has driven manufacturers to adopt many sustain- ability claims, certifications, messages and other information tools to differentiate their goods. The results of an online survey, conducted in southern Italy on a sample of 305 individuals aged between 18 and 26 years, reveal that the level of visibility of sustainability labels is low. In particular, Rainforest Alliance certification and Libera Terra have never been noted by large shares of respondents (respectively 75% and 68%). Moreover, the degree of understanding of these labels is generally low, except for the organic one. The correct definition is stated only by 15% of interviewees for Fair Trade; 25% for Libera Terra and 16% for Rainforest Alliance. Furthermore, there is a significant relationship (χ <0.05) between visibility and understanding for all the labels; suggesting that label visibility strongly impacts the probability of having a higher understanding. Findings suggest that food firms should be cautious investing in sustainability labels unless they are combined with effective information policies to increase familiarity among specific market segments. © 2018 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The growing concern of society for the social and environmental consequences of food production and consumption, as well as greater awareness of the unintended negative impacts of individ- ual food choices on global food sustainability, has led to a greater need for information on the impacts of food that we consume daily. At the same time, the increasing demand for sustainable food products has driven manufacturers to adopt a larger number of sustainability food claims, certifications, messages and other information tools to differentiate their goods. Sustainability char- acteristics of food are credence attributes, and thus producers and distributors need ways to communicate to consumers, and consumers need ways to identify the desired attributes’’ (Sirieix et al., 2013 p. 144). Labelling has been given an increasingly important role in achieving sustainability goals, providing consumers with the op- portunity to consider environmental, social and ethical impacts of their food choices. So-called sustainability labels are regarded as key tools in informing consumers of the impacts of their food choices (Krystallis et al., 2012; Van Loo et al., 2015). Consequently, in recent decades a growing number of public and private vol- untary labelling initiatives have been introduced to inform on a * Corresponding author. E-mail address: azzurra.annunziata@uniparthenope.it (A. Annunziata). range of sustainability aspects of food. 1 Several scholars support the idea that sustainability labels assist in decreasing information asymmetry between supply and demand regarding environmental and social issues (Nikolaou and Kazantzidis, 2016; Shao, 2016). However, the recent proliferation of standards and labels for social or environmental food products jeopardies consumers and may increase scepticism (Aprile and Mariani, 2015; Sirieix et al., 2013; Engels et al., 2010). In addition, information overload, along with other factors, may limit the use of sustainability labels (Nikolaou and Kazantzidis, 2016; Sirieix et al., 2013; Comas Martí and Seifert, 2013; Grunert, 2011; Horne, 2009; Van Loo et al., 2015; Grunert et al., 2014). Furthermore, the use of sustainability labels is not a cost-free option for manufacturers due to the more stringent production (or management) standards imposed, as compared to conventional production. In this regards, it is important to highlight that comparing the same products with and without sustainability labels, evidences suggests that consumers are willing to pay a premium price for goods with sustainability labels (Janßen and Langen, 2017; Lombardi et al., 2017; Van Loo et al., 2015). However, some remarkable differences subsist in relation to type 1 Grunert et al. (2014) reported that a survey by the European Commission identified 129 public and private sustainability-related food information schemes available at the EU or national levels (European Commission, 2012), while more recently Janßen and Langen (2017) found that, according to the Ecolabel Index, 148 of the 465 ecolabels include standards for food and beverages (Ecolabel index, 2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2018.09.005 2352-5509/© 2018 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.