FDA labeling standards are intended to assist consumers in making informed dietary decisions. Previous research found consumer food choices are predicted by attitudes toward products, normative social beliefs, and perceived normative pressures. However, there are instances when attitudes do not accurately predict behaviors. Despite holding an overall favorable attitude toward a product, consumers may abstain from consumption due specific product attributes. This study examined the impact of the label "milk" on consumer attitudes and evaluations of product attributes. Using two between-groups experiments, the following hypotheses were tested: (1) the name "milk" is preferred over the name "juice" for plant-based dairy alternative beverages; (2) the size of this effect is moderated by personal preference for plant-based dairy alternative beverages over milk; (3) those exposed to dairy milk advertising will have more favorable milk attitudes than those exposed to control messages; (4) those exposed to plant-based dairy alternative beverage advertising will have more favorable plant-based dairy alternative beverage attitudes than those exposed to control messages; and (5) those exposed to dairy milk advertising will have more favorable plant-based dairy alternative beverage attitudes than those exposed to control messages. Participants, aged 18-35, were recruited from an undergraduate participant pool and from Amazon MTurk. Data was collected via an online questionnaire administered through Qualtrics and analyzed in IBM SPSS using descriptive statistics, multilinear regression and ANOVA. While participants preferred "milk" as the name for plant-based dairy alternative beverages over an alternate name, this preference was not statistically significant. Further, no evidence was found for a halo effect caused by beverage advertising. Although the distinctions between milk and plant-based dairy alternative beverages are blurring for some consumers, the process of genericide is not yet complete. The currently unenforced FDA labeling standards may be directly contributing to both the economic hardships experienced by the dairy industry and the explosive growth in the plant-based dairy alternative beverage market. The results from this study have important health, legal, and legislative implications regarding the use of the word "milk."
