- This research provides new insights into consumer reactions and acceptance of true cost price labels. It focuses on how design elements and cognitive and emotional responses impact perceived price fairness and purchase intent towards food prices that include externalities. These insights are crucial for policymakers, marketers, and businesses promoting sustainable consumption practices to communicate true cost prices effectively. The true cost accounting (TCA) method integrates external costs, such as environmental impacts, into the market price of food products. The four dimensions included in this study are greenhouse gas emissions, nitrogen derivatives, energy consumption, and biodiversity loss created by three food product categories. Findings show that TCA information on true cost price labels increases the perceived price fairness. Building on behavioral pricing literature, the study also compares label design variants of TCA information per externality in absolute (currency) versus relative (percentages) markup prices, findingThis research provides new insights into consumer reactions and acceptance of true cost price labels. It focuses on how design elements and cognitive and emotional responses impact perceived price fairness and purchase intent towards food prices that include externalities. These insights are crucial for policymakers, marketers, and businesses promoting sustainable consumption practices to communicate true cost prices effectively. The true cost accounting (TCA) method integrates external costs, such as environmental impacts, into the market price of food products. The four dimensions included in this study are greenhouse gas emissions, nitrogen derivatives, energy consumption, and biodiversity loss created by three food product categories. Findings show that TCA information on true cost price labels increases the perceived price fairness. Building on behavioral pricing literature, the study also compares label design variants of TCA information per externality in absolute (currency) versus relative (percentages) markup prices, finding that relative true cost price labels are easier for consumers to understand and lead to higher purchase intent. Using innovative UX research methods like facial coding and eye tracking, this research investigates the emotional drivers behind these choices, revealing that surprise and confusion mediate the relationship between true cost price labels and purchase intent. The counter-intuitive finding suggests that even subtle emotional cues can steer consumer intent.…

