Digital Nutrition Claims and the Health Halo in Online Food Retail: Evidence From “0 Trans Fat” Hero‐Image Labels in China

ABSTRACT This study examines consumer valuation of a salient digital nutrition claim in online food retailing. Using a structural demand model for sliced bread and a daily panel of 59 top‐selling bread products from a major Chinese live‐streaming e‐commerce platform, the analysis estimates demand for products carrying a “0 trans fat” hero‐image claim, consumers’ willingness to pay for that claim, and assesses whether the claim is accompanied by a fat‐related health halo in the form of a higher marginal valuation of total fat. Using fixed‐ and random‐coefficients logit models with cost shifters as instruments, the results show that consumers are willing to pay an additional 0.907 CNY per 100 g for products carrying the claim. The claim is also associated with an increase in the marginal willingness to pay for total fat from 0.104 to 0.232 CNY per 100 g, implying a halo valuation of 0.128 CNY, or about a 123% increase. These findings provide revealed‐preference evidence that digital nutrition claims can be associated with both a direct premium and a distortion in nutrient valuation in online food markets.