Truth #1: In many countries, the legalization of hemp-derived cannabidiol — better known as CBD — saw the exponential growth in such products hitting the market.
Truth #2: Consumer understanding of the products remains lacking.
This is according to a study — “Consumer Confusion About Product Names Commonly Used to Describe Hemp-Based Oils” by Brandon R. McFadden, Kawsheha Muraleetharan, Benjamin Campbell, Adam Rabinowitz, Tyler Mark, and Michael Popp — that was published in the Journal of Consumer Affairs.
“You’ve now got new products on the market that have never been there before, and so there’s a pretty long learning curve for the average consumer,” said McFadden.
CBD oils go by many names and contain a variety of ingredients. For example, “CBD isolate” only contains CBD, but “full-spectrum CBD” contains other compounds such as terpenes and flavonoids, which can contribute to aroma, flavor and overall therapeutic effects.
Full-spectrum CBD also can contain up to up to 0.3 percent delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, by weight — the legal threshold set by the federal government for hemp-derived CBD products.
Products with THC levels above this threshold would be classified as marijuana and considered illegal under various laws. THC is known for its psychoactive properties, but there is debate on whether any psychotropic or intoxicating effects are felt for THC levels below 1%, McFadden noted.
Considering the many types of CBD products and their distinctions, McFadden led a study surveying consumers to gauge their confusion when it came to product names. Those surveyed completed two product selection tasks. In both selection tasks, consumers chose between CBD isolate, hemp oil, full-spectrum CBD and broad-spectrum CBD, which is a middle ground between the isolate and full-spectrum choices and contains no THC.
In one task, respondents were provided the common name of three CBD oil products, as well as hemp oil, and were asked to imagine they were purchasing 1000-mg CBD oil for themselves or a loved one. In the other task, they were faced with the same choice but were given more information about the products’ contents. The content information included concentration levels of CBD and THC, as well as the presence of additional compounds.
The consumers surveyed included those who had reported previous CBD purchases and those who had not.
CBD interest is growing
McFadden said he was surprised by the study’s finding that there was significant interest in CBD isolate among those surveyed who had not previously used CBD products.
“It did seem like there were consumers who were potentially interested in purchasing CBD, but because there was such a learning curve and a lack of knowledge, they wouldn’t participate in the market,” McFadden said.
The findings also showed that for consumers with a strong preference, it was not easy to identify their preferred product based on product name alone. In fact, some consumers who reported previously purchasing CBD products had difficulty distinguishing between CBD oil types.
Labeling made modern
To combat consumer misconceptions, McFadden pointed to the use of “smart labeling,” which uses technologies such as QR codes on product labels to allow consumers to gain more information than would fit on a printed label, especially the small bottles and containers in which CBD products are often packaged.
“It’s a very powerful tool across all products to provide more consumers with more information, fostering consumer education, which is particularly important for things like new products like CBD,” McFadden said.
McFadden added that these QR codes can take consumers not just to text on product information but to other media, such as videos, to aid in educating those who may not have done prior research.
“So that’s why providing them information at the point of purchase can be very important because they’re unlikely to spend much time before going to a store selling it,” he said.
