TAMPA, Fla. – A new report published at DrugStoreNews.com reveals that those consumers who shop for better-for-you items demand transparency on food labels—even suggesting that retailers would do better to face their food products backward on store shelves, as ingredient lists and nutritional information trump brand names and package design among this demographic.

The recent study by ECRM and HellaWella, a consumer healthy-living website owned by Lebhar-Friedman, examined how consumers perceive various food products and categories from a wellness standpoint, and how these perceptions drive their shopping behavior. The research found that healthy-lifestyle consumers spend more time reading labels and are willing to pay more and will go out of their way—including visiting several retailers during a single trip—to find the products that meet their needs.

The 750 consumers who were surveyed ranked trans-fat-free and low-sugar among the most important food designations. The produce section was ranked as the top destination for health foods, and displays at checkout often stocked with candy and gum were cited as the least-shopped for healthy food items. Prepared foods also ranked relatively low in importance among those surveyed, mainly because the ingredients are often lacking on food labels for these items.

For packaging, a product’s ingredient listing and nutritional values far outweighed its brand name and package design, which had the least influence in driving purchase decisions among these wellness-minded shoppers. According to the survey, more than 65% ranked ingredient listing as “highly influential.” Meanwhile, a product’s brand name was only cited by 5% of respondents as “highly influential.”

For more on capturing better-for-you shoppers in convenience stores, download the latest deliverable from the NACS reFresh initiative, “Health & Wellness Trends and Strategies for the Convenience Store Sector.”