Defining and Conceptualizing Product Literacy

I'm quite illiterate, but I read a lot. (Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye). "Literacy" is a word that has been applied across many domains: "digital literacy" (Gilster 1997), "information literacy" (Zurkowski 1974) and "music literacy" (Freeman and Neidt 1959), among many others. This concept has come to include contexts that are directly related to the consumer interest (Bone, France, and Aikin 2009; Cude 2010; Langenderfer and Miyazaki 2009; Royne and Levy 2011), through a general desire among policymakers that consumers "understand" some type of information in such a way that desirable (usually behavioral) outcomes are achieved. The concept of product literacy merits attention because it has economic, social and individual significance. The consequences of product illiteracy can manifest in the very short term; for example, a combination of manufacturer deceptions and consumer misunderstandings arguably caused the consumer misuse of powdered infant formula in developing countries, leading to immediate and tragic outcomes (Finkle 1994). The outcomes of continued product illiteracy may also be revealed over a much longer time period. For example, the "calorie" has been used for well over a century as one measure of the energy content of food products (Hargrove 2006), yet consumers still apparently cannot or do not use the basic information about it to make decisions (Dietary Guidelines Alliance 2010; Elbel 2011) or understand that caloric intake can be associated with health-related problems (Chandon and Wansink 2007). Additionally, product literacy has a shelf life. Consumers' use of what may be current information can be confounded by new information--often it is only as products are used by large segments of consumers that deficiencies and dangers become apparent. Terfenadine was the first "no drowsiness" antihistamine, introduced in the 1980s. The branded version of the drug was one of the first prescription drugs advertised directly to consumers, until broad adoption of the drug produced evidence of potentially fatal heart-related side effects. Warning information was widely disseminated to physicians (Nightingale 1992), but eventually the drug was withdrawn from the US market in 1995. Similarly, research and consumer experience have continued to encounter unfavorable "outcomes" of the consumption of specific products, resulting in calls for more emphatic consumer-directed warnings for commonly consumed products such as tanning beds (Food and Drug Administration 2008), hot dogs (American Academy of Pediatrics 2010; Dickinson 2009) and soft drinks (Center for Science in the Public Interest 2011). The addition of new information to existing knowledge makes it difficult for even literate consumers to keep abreast of what's good, what's bad, how much or whether. Some consumer-interest analyses have attempted to optimize the information provided to consumers (e.g., Kemp and Kopp 2011; Zank and Kemp 2012), under the assumption that providing the right amount of the right words about a product will persuade a change in behavior. Others have suggested that there are limits to the effectiveness of providing more and more information (Keller and Staelin 1987; Rotfeld 2009). Results of published studies suggest that product literacy is highly contextual--it depends on the product, on the information provided and on many individual consumer characteristics. Thus, it is not surprising that in practice and in research, "product literacy" outcomes vary. What is uniformly addressed across contexts, however, is the need for theoretical and conceptual frameworks to guide understanding for policymakers as well as researchers. EFFORTS TO IMPROVE PRODUCT LITERACY Product literacy is a key ability in a consumption-driven society, composed of a fundamental set of skills and knowledge, needed to make "satisfying" individual purchase choices but also to influence general health, economy and societal well-being. …