Nutritional Advertising: Marketing or Cheating

Scientific data revealing a link between diseases and a poor diet have made consumers more attentive to what they consume and wanting to adopt new lifestyles. Although nutritional knowledge is scarce, brands need to reinvent themselves and be attentive to these changes so that they can keep up with their competition. Therefore, the aim of this study is to understand the perspective from the two sides: brands and consumers. On the one hand, how do brands advertise (supposedly) healthy products and, on the other, how do consumers perceive these same products. For a more targeted study, we chose to study the biscuit sector with an observational study in a supermarket, analyzed through a questionnaire survey. Overall, this study concludes that consumers are somewhat concerned with their eating habits. However, this preoccupation differs from the true nutritional reality from each product. We then conclude that the public’s lack of knowledge is the key factor that allow companies to sell these products in a healthy way.