The Effect of Warning Labels on Consumers

Many consumer and electrical products have warning labels that are on the package or attached to part of the product such as the electric cord. Warning labels can come in different sizes, colors and contain several sentences and warningnsymbols. The Association for Consumer Research in Alberta, Canada is one organization that has actually studied how warning labels affect consumers

Significance

• If people fail to read warning labels, they can potentially risk overexposure or ingestion of a harmful substance. This inherent danger is particular notable among families with small children or pets.

Identification

• People go through various stages in recognizing and acknowledging information on consumer labels, according to the Association for Consumer Research. A label must first gain the attention of the consumer and get them to read it. Consumers, in turn, must comprehend the label contents, be able to recall the information and comprehend it before using the product and actually comply with the warning in their actions.

Function

• People will react differently depending on the size, color, wording and even the font that is used for the warning label. The degree of details and any symbols that are used will determine the effectiveness of a label and whether people comply with it.

Effects

• Consumers tend to respond more to warning labels that contain symbols or color. For example, the skull and crossbones universally represents a poisonous substance. Color tends to be effective in drawing attention and getting people to read the label. A wordy label that is printed with a small font is more likely to be ignored.

Considerations

• Consumers must be familiar with a product or use it to actually care about any warning label. However, people who are familiar with a product also tend to ignore the warning labels as if it insults their intelligence. For the most part, consumer warning labels do not tend to have that much impact on consumer behavior.