The paper examines young consumers’ responses towards nutritional labeling, it’s information content and the importance of the functional characteristics of these labels as perceived by young consumers in making informed purchase decisions through personal interviews of 220 respondents using a structured questionnaire. Factor analysis was performed to identify the underlying dimensions among a set of nutritional labeling parameters using principal component analysis. Based on factor analysis, ten factors emerged. Regression analysis and t test indicated that, out the ten factors, only three factors namely ‘Nutritional Belief’, ‘Storage instruction & Information overload’, and ‘Exercise & Nutrition’ were significant. These factors were mainly inclined outside the purview of nutritional labeling purchase influence .It was thus concluded that nutritional labeling had less influence in purchase decisions as far as young consumers were considered. Findings of the study give practical insights on food labeling issues for the food processors and policy makers.

Packaging is often called as the fifth P of the marketing mix. Chocolate is a product which is loved to be consumed irrespective of any age group. Consumers were asked to imagine that a new chocolate bar has been launched in the market and were yet to sense (sight or taste) it or a chocolate bar which was already launched in the market and were yet to sense (sight or taste) it .The present study explored different chocolate packaging cues that could possibly influence the purchase decision of young consumers in such a scenario. Descriptive research with convenient sampling elicited 240 responses across the age group lying between 11 to 27 years. Results showed that an attractive package design was of paramount significance in first purchase of chocolate bars. The important factors which affected the buying decision were ‘Information’ and ‘Visual aesthetics’. However it was found that chocolate packaging had less influence on subsequent purchase of chocolate bars. It was also inferred that an attractive package along with a strong advertising campaign could bring prospective sales for a newly launched chocolate bar. The study also discussed the influence of chocolate packaging for national and international brands across various demographic variables.