Informative messages on product packages—especially on packages of food products—should be credible. Otherwise, the firm might experience a serious fall in brand equity. However, because nutrition intake and health promotion are “credence attributes”, it isdifficult for consumers to evaluate them. Moreover, if nutrition message or health claims were false or puffery, consumers might suffer a serious health damage. Regarding the problems, in 1991, Japanese Government took the initiative in the world by introducing the FoSHU (Foods for Specified Health Uses) system—a license system in which the government tries to control all health claims on packages of food products launched in the country. It should be noted that there are two factors which can be appeared on packages only with the permission of Japanese Government. One is health claims, of course, and the other is the “FoSHU seal”—a symbolic mark designed for FoSHU foods. Interestingly, these two licensed factors may have different effects on perceived product value in health. In this research, we conducted two studies to examine the difference of the effects on product value in health. The results showed that consumer evaluations of food products are affected by the FoSHU seal. The FoSHU seal has a strong signaling effects on evaluations of the particular food products for specified health uses. On the other hand, unlike the FoSHU seal, approved health claims themselves have no main effects on evaluations of the FoSHU products. This implies that health claims have positive external effects on evaluations of non-FoSHU products in the same category. The results showed that the external effects can be inhabited by product differentiation through the FoSHU seal and./or packaging.

• Makoto Ono(Keio University)
• Akinori Ono(Keio University)