CBD Oils: Do you know what's inside?
April 4, 2025
By Maddie Johnson
University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station
Fast facts
- Research team collected survey data to test consumer confusion over CBD oils
- Study finds consumers who had not bought CBD prefer pure CBD oil
- Researcher points to QR codes on labels for reducing consumer confusion
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Since the 2018 Farm Bill effectively legalized hemp-derived cannabidiol — better known as CBD — there’s been an exponential growth in products hitting the market, but a newly published study suggests consumer understanding of the products has not kept pace.
“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 Brandon McFadden, professor and researcher of agricultural economics and agribusiness in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences and for the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
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 federal law. 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 percent, 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.
The study, “Consumer Confusion About Product Names Commonly Used to Describe Hemp-Based Oils,” was published in the Journal of Consumer Affairs in February.
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.
Co-authors of the study included Kawsheha Muraleetharan, University of Arkansas graduate research assistant studying food science and technology; Benjamin Campbell, University of Georgia professor of agricultural and applied economics; Adam Rabinowitz, Auburn University professor of agricultural economics and rural sociology; Tyler Mark, University of Kentucky associate professor of production economics; and Michael Popp, Harold F. Ohlendorf Professor of agricultural economics and agribusiness with the Division of Agriculture. Popp is also a Bumpers College faculty member.
The work was supported in part by a grant from the Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service, project USDA-AMS-TM-FSMIP-G-20-0004.
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.
Mention or depiction of product names does not imply endorsement by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
To learn more about the Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website. Follow us on X at @ArkAgResearch, subscribe to the Food, Farms and Forests podcast and sign up for our monthly newsletter, the Arkansas Agricultural Research Report. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit uada.edu. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit uaex.uada.edu.
About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.
The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on three system campuses.
Pursuant to 7 CFR § 15.3, the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services (including employment) without regard to race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, sexual preference, pregnancy or any other legally protected status, and is an equal opportunity institution.
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Media Contact: Maddie Johnson
U of A System Division of Agriculture
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station
501-259-3247
mej048@uark.edu