What are the three requirements of labels? Why are these important?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Legal Requirements Labels must meet federal, state, even local rules and regulations. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires all processed-food companies to provide detailed nutritional information clearly identifying calories, fats, carbohydrates, and other information. Other products must have warnings of a certain size that are easily read and understood by the customer. Hazardous materials such as cleaning products, pesticides, and many other items require 14 different pieces of information be included on the label. It is easy to understand why space on the label is at such a premium.
Consumer advocacy groups and government agencies evaluate labels to identify misleading or mislabeled products, and there is a long history of legal prosecution for inappropriate, unethical, even illegal product labeling. In 1914, the federal government, through the Federal Trade Commission, first ruled misleading or blatantly phony labels were illegal and represented unfair competition. Since then, additional legislation has been passed by the federal government such as the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (1967). States have also passed legislation, which, in most cases, supports federal legislation but also extends specific rules and policies.

Consumer Requirements Consumers want to use products out of the box and package labeling is the most convenient place for initial use instructions. Additionally, product precautions, simple assembly information, and appropriate age for product use may also be included on the package. Essentially, any information the consumer needs to make a product choice, particularly at the point of purchase, needs to be on the package.

Marketing Requirements Since package labeling represents the last marketing opportunity before the purchase decision, as much label space as possible is allocated to marketing communications. Brand, logo, product image, and other relevant marketing messages take up the dominant space on the label. On a box of Procter & Gamble's Bounce fabric softener sheets, the brand name "Bounce" is approximately 50 percent of the space on the front panel and the rest of the space is a bright color (orange) with clean, fresh clothes hanging on the line and a green field. P&G uses the entire front panel of the box to support the marketing efforts of the brand.