Most studies utilize consumer surveys or experimental data to investigate the relationship between socioeconomic variables and food choices. The author examines actual purchase behavior (supermarket scanner data) in the natural shopping environment. The author focuses on whether the propensity to purchase high-fat unlabeled products within a product category varies across supermarkets with different demographic profiles. The results show differences in this propensity across demographic groups, even after accounting for price and sale promotions. The findings are consistent with consumer survey and experimental design research on the relationship between demographic characteristics and the processing of nutrition information.
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