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Show me the labels: Using pre-nudges to reduce calorie information avoidance

Tabaré Capitán et al.

Journal of Risk and Uncertainty2026https://doi.org/10.1007/s11166-025-09471-9article
AJG 3ABDC A*
Weight
0.50

Abstract

Calorie labeling is a popular policy to address the obesity epidemic, but it has had little empirical success. Under the premise that willful avoidance of information plays a role in this result, we propose a novel approach—pre-nudges—to make consumers more receptive to calorie information. Unlike nudges, which are used to directly influence a choice, pre-nudges are used to directly influence how consumers react to the nudge itself (the calorie label). In line with predictions from our theoretical analysis, we test two pre-nudges in the context of menu labeling: one aims to increase self-efficacy, and the other one highlights the long-term health risks of overeating. In a large-scale laboratory experiment, we find that both pre-nudges reduce calorie information avoidance. Overall, our paper suggests a possible role for pre-nudges in addressing the obesity epidemic—one of the largest public health issues globally—and illustrates the potential usefulness of pre-nudges more generally.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/s11166-025-09471-9

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@article{tabaré2026,
  title        = {{Show me the labels: Using pre-nudges to reduce calorie information avoidance}},
  author       = {Tabaré Capitán et al.},
  journal      = {Journal of Risk and Uncertainty},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/s11166-025-09471-9},
}

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Show me the labels: Using pre-nudges to reduce calorie information avoidance

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.