Table 3.

Percentage of participants who reported different behaviours when facing a product with warnings in a purchase situation and the underlying reasons

Self-reported behaviour	Reasons	Example of responses	Percentage of participants*
Purchased it anyway (n 256, 42 %)	Infrequent or ‘moderate’ consumption	‘I don’t consume the products often, so I won’t stop eating them once in a while because they have excess’, ‘In small quantities and within a healthy diet, there is no problem at all’	23
	Habit	‘Habit’, ‘It was the product I am used to’, ‘It was the one I regularly ate’	17
	Product liking	‘We consume it anyway because it is tasty’	17
	Wanting/cravings	‘It was what I wanted, even after noticing the warning’, ‘I wanted to drink it’	16
	Availability	‘In certain categories it is impossible to find a product without excess’, ‘There aren’t similar products that I like’	9
	Low risk perception/lack of health concern	‘The consequences are not immediate, so I don’t take them into account’, ‘I only limit sodium’, ‘You have to die of something’	7
	Reduction in the quantity of product consumed	‘I drink XX often. The label helps me drink less’, ‘We consume smaller quantities’	4
	Intention to change behaviour	‘It was very clear in my mind that it had excess and I know that I won’t buy it as much as I sued to’	4
	Product purchased for another person	‘It wasn’t for me’	3
	Cost	‘Because healthy products are more expensive’	3
	Lack of familiarity with the warnings	‘I’m not used to looking at the new labelling to decide yet’	2
	Conscious decision	‘I know that XXX has excess of sugar, but I want it anyway. I don’t need a label to remind me’	2
Purchased a similar product with fewer warnings (n 105, 17 %)	Health concern	‘To take care of my health’, ‘To take care of my family’, ‘I don’t wanna feel that I’m poisoning myself with ultra-processed products’	74
	Informed decision/response to the warnings	‘Because the warnings allowed me to easily identify the excess’, ‘The labels are a warning’	9
	Surprise/shock	‘The warnings caused an important visual impact’	6
	Intention to change behaviour	‘I am trying to improve my eating habits’, ‘I am trying to include healthier foods’	5
	Cost	‘Healthy products are more expensive’, ’Because of the price’	4
	Lack of familiarity with the warnings	‘I am not fully sure about the criteria for excess of sugar’, ‘I still need more information about the warnings’	4
	Product liking	‘I liked it’	3
	Trust in the policy/government	‘If the Ministry of Health put those labels for the sake of all of us, we should take them into account, right?’’	2
	Concern about children’s health	‘It was for my daughter’	2
Purchased a similar product without warnings (n 142, 23 %)	Health concern	‘I take care of myself and my family’	76
	Surprise/shock	‘The symbols shock me and make me think’	13
	Informed decision/response to the warnings	‘I compared the products using the labels to select products with less sodium and saturated fat’, ‘The labels made you reason’	11
	Ease to read/understand the warnings	‘It is very practical to look at these labels’,	8
	Lack of habit of reading conventional nutrition information	‘I’m always looking for healthy options, but it was difficult to read the labels when you are doing your shopping’, We don’t know how to interpret the nutritional tables on food packages. These symbols guide us’	6
	Reflection on eating habits	‘I made me think about what I eat’, ‘It is time to start taking care of us, as much as we can’, ‘Without being reminded of the excess of a products, we buy them because everyone does. It is something cultural that we need to immediately change’, ‘It made me think what that food could cause to my family’	6
	Concern about children’s health	‘I don’t want to buy things that are bad for my children’	4
	Trust in the policy	‘Thanks to this regulation, as a society we have the possibility to choose eating well without making mistakes’	3
Did not purchase the product (n 113, 18 %)	Health concern	‘I try to eat healthily’, ‘I thought it wasn’t healthy’	58
	Reflection of eating habits	‘It made me think about buying something healthier. It made me wonder why they only make unhealthy stuff’, ‘The product was to treat myself and I didn’t need it. As it said excess of sugar and fat, I didn’t buy it’	19
	Informed decision/response to the warnings	‘It is a cue to action to control what we eat’, ‘I realized it was not healthy. I preferred to spend my money on something better’, ‘It made me think if it was really necessary’, ‘It called my attention’	19
	Surprise/shock	‘XXX* cookies have been always sold as healthy. I was shocked when I saw the black label’, ‘I felt cheated because advertising shows it as healthy. That is why I ate it, but in fact it was full of sugar’	9
	Concern about children’s health	‘It was for my children. It made me aware’, ‘Not taking the products it’s a way of teaching children that the products are not healthy’, ‘My children deserve better things’	6
	Trust in the policy	‘I am thankful for this policy that contributes to improve our health’	4
	Ease to read/understand the warnings	‘The information is big and visible’	2

For each of the reasons, examples of responses are shown. Percentages are calculated considering the number of participants who self-reported each behaviour. Values within each behaviour do not sum up to 100 % because some participants provided more than one response.

^*The brand is blinded for publication. Examples of responses are translated from Spanish.