ON MAY 7TH, 2018, A POLICY OF NUTRITIONAL LABELING ON RESTAURANT MENUS WAS ENACTED NATIONALLY IN THE UNITED STATES AND APPLIES TO RESTAURANT CHAINS WITH 20 OR MORE LOCATIONS. PREVIOUS RESEARCH ON RELATED POLICIES OF RESTAURANT NUTRITION LABELING FOUND THAT CONSUMERS RESPOND TO THEM BY SLIGHTLY DECREASING THEIR CALORIC INTAKE. HOWEVER, RESTAURANTS' RESPONSES TO NUTRITION LABELING ARE NOT AS WELL STUDIED. WE PROPOSE TO ASSESS THE SUPPLE SIDE IMPACT OF THIS POLICY ON THE NUTRITIONAL QUALITY OF FOOD OFFERED IN U.S. RESTAURANTS. WE COLLECTED A LARGE PANEL DATA CONSISTING OF THE NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION OF ALL MENU ITEMS FOR 113 LARGE RESTAURANT CHAINS AND 60 SMALL RESTAURANT CHAINS (< 20 LOCATIONS). DATA WAS COLLECTED IN 23 DISTINCT PERIODS THAT ENCOMPASS BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER POLICY IMPLEMENTATION (MARCH 2016 TO OCTOBER 2019). WE PROPOSE DEVELOPING THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL MODELS TO EVALUATE THE EFFECT OF THE RULE ON RESTAURANT MENU OFFERINGS.THEORETICALLY, THE OBJECTIVE IS TO MODEL RESTAURANTS' STRATEGIC RESPONSE TO THE MANDATORY INFORMATION DISCLOSURE IN TERMS OF PRICE AND QUALITY, WHILE ACCOUNTING FOR CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND COMPETITIVE PRESSURE. THE PREDICTIONS FROM THE CONCEPTUAL MODEL WILL HELP US INTERPRET EMPIRICAL RESULTS. EMPIRICALLY, THE OBJECTIVE IS TO EXAMINE THE EFFECTS OF POLICY ON MENU OFFERINGS, NUTRITIONAL CONTENT, ADVERTISING, AND SALES AT CHAIN RESTAURANTS. WE FURTHER EXAMINE HOW DIFFERENT TYPES OF RESTAURANTS REACT DIFFERENTLY TO THE POLICY. THE PROJECT WILL DETERMINE THE EXTENT TO WHICH RESTAURANTS' RESPONSE TO THE LABELING RULE BOLSTER OR HINDER THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE OF REDUCING THE OBESITY RATE IN THE U.S..

University Of Massachusetts, Amherst MA

Investigators