When Informational Policies Become Retail Assets: How Voluntary Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labels Build Trust and Loyalty in Retail

In voluntary labeling regimes, standardized Front-of-Pack Nutritional Labels (FOPL) can become embedded in retailer-controlled branding and loyalty infrastructures, generating relational value beyond their informational intent. This research examines how Front-of-Pack Nutritional Labels (FOPL) shape retailer-oriented outcomes through relational mechanisms operating at different stages of the retailer– consumer relationship. Across five experiments in voluntary labeling markets, we trace the evolution of FOPL from trust-creating cues to scheme-dependent trust reinforcement among non-enrolled consumers, to the institutionalization of trust through loyalty program enrollment. Study 1 shows that, in the absence of brand cues, FOPLs increase Brand Trust, which mediates their effect on Retail Brand Loyalty. Study 2 demonstrates that in branded private-label retail contexts with baseline retailer trust, relational effects become scheme-dependent: Nutri-Score reinforces trust and loyalty intentions among non-enrolled consumers, whereas NutrInform Battery does not. Study 3 models enrollment as an institutional mechanism linking trust to durable loyalty, showing that only Nutri-Score activates the full trust–enrollment–loyalty sequence. Study 4 tests explicit retailer commitment to consumer health as a boundary test for this mechanism. Study 5 reveals a retailer advantage: when a retailer proactively claims ownership of the FOPL, it generates an incremental, yet small, significant direct effect on retail brand loyalty, thus internalizing public policy as a private relational asse. Collectively, the findings show how informational policy tools can evolve into relational assets within retailer-controlled loyalty systems in voluntary regulatory settings.