08 Mar Consumers Balance Healthy and Hedonistic Food Choices

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Minakshi Trivedi, PhD
Professor of Marketing
Co-Director CRM
University at Buffalo
Jacobs Management Center
Buffalo, NY 14260

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Dr. Trivedi: Consumer health concerns have been on the rise as has the flow of nutritional information and advice from retailers, manufacturers, government agencies and the medical community regarding what and how much consumers should consume. Nevertheless, whether such concerns are reflected in their purchasing and consumption behavior is not quite as certain. With diabetes and obesity showing steady increases of incidence in the population, understanding this apparent disconnect between stated health concerns and actual food consumption becomes a critical objective for policy makers wishing to impact and improve public consumption choice behavior.

Drawing from the theory of compensatory or balancing behavior (Fishbein & Ajzen 1975), we posit that consumers also exhibit such balancing behavior across a set of products when limiting the consumption of negatively perceived attributes – that is, attributes which when present, generally contribute negatively to the valuation of a product. We study this balancing behavior in consumer consumption when limiting salt, sugar and fat content across product categories. Depending on the consumer’s individual health orientation, then, a healthy choice in some categories may compensate for a less healthy choice in another category.

MedicalResearch.com: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?

Dr. Trivedi:  We estimate a latent class, multi-category product choice model using scanner panel data and supplemented with survey based constructs obtained from the same consumers.

First, we find consistent evidence for the presence of three basic segments of consumers – Hedonic, Healthy and Balancing – drawn based on their attitude, level of concern and purchasing behavior of healthy and regular versions of products, across all three health elements.

Secondly, the households comprising each segment varies across the element of concern.

Finally, a given household may show great sensitivity to a given element (such the sugar) but be completely indifferent to another (such as salt).

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Dr. Trivedi: These findings have significant implications for retail and manufacturer strategy as well as for public policy. Different strategies can be designed around the behavior they document to encourage purchases of healthier foods, the authors suggest. Retailers, for example, can use this research as guidance regarding which products to bundle for promotions and which element of the bundle to promote in order to maximize the impact on healthy consumption.

Consumers on the other hand, should be encouraged to look more closely at their overall consumption patterns rather than just one aspect (such as a specific health element) of it. As for public policy, the three segments exhibit significantly different attitudes towards healthy eating and strategies tailored for the specific behavioral segments will be critical. We suggest that if government agencies are to have any impact in promoting healthy consumption, it is imperative to understand the nature of this mechanism. 

MedicalResearch.com: Thank you for your contribution to the MedicalResearch.com community.

Citation:

Minakshi Trivedi, Karthik Sridhar, Ashish Kumar.Impact of Healthy Alternatives on Consumer Choice: A Balancing Act. Journal of Retailing, 2016; DOI:1016/j.jretai.2015.05.003

Note: Content is Not intended as medical advice. Please consult your health care provider regarding your specific medical condition and questions.

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Minakshi Trivedi, PhD (2016). Consumers Balance Healthy and Hedonistic Food Choices 

Last Updated on March 8, 2016 by Marie Benz MD FAAD