• Can supermarkets coax people into buying

    From ScienceDaily@1:317/3 to All on Thu Mar 24 22:30:44 2022
    Can supermarkets coax people into buying healthier food?

    Date:
    March 24, 2022
    Source:
    PLOS
    Summary:
    Restricting supermarket placement of less healthy items and
    increasing the availability of healthier alternatives in these
    stores may be promising interventions to encourage healthier
    purchasing behaviors, according to two new studies.



    FULL STORY ========================================================================== Restricting supermarket placement of less healthy items and increasing the availability of healthier alternatives in these stores may be promising interventions to encourage healthier purchasing behaviors. Those are
    the conclusions of two new studies publishing March 24 in PLOSMedicine
    by Carmen Piernas and colleagues of University of Oxford, UK.


    ========================================================================== Dietary targets for saturated fat, dietary fiber, sugar, and salt intake
    are currently not being met in the UK. Poor diets are an important risk
    factor for chronic diseases, and many socioeconomic inequalities remain
    when it comes to diet. Evidence from systematic reviews has suggested
    that grocery store interventions may be effective at changing diet,
    but evidence in real supermarkets has been lacking.

    In the first new study, the researchers evaluated six interventions
    involving the availability, placement, promotions, and signage of
    healthier products within three major chains of UK grocery stores. They
    found that increasing the availability of healthier options within
    a category was associated with significant changes in purchasing. For
    instance, stocking low-fat chips next to regular chips decreased the sales
    of regular chips (-23% in intervention stores vs. -4% in control stores, p=0.001). Stocking more lower calorie biscuits increased sales by 18%
    and decreased purchases of regular, higher calorie biscuits by 4%.

    In the second study, Piernas and colleagues evaluated a grocery store intervention to remove seasonal chocolates and candy from prominent
    locations within a major UK supermarket in the 7 weeks leading up to
    Easter. In 34 intervention stores, free-standing promotional displays
    of seasonal chocolate confectionery products were removed, although the
    candies were available elsewhere in the store. The researchers found
    an attenuation in the usual seasonal increase in confectionery sales;
    units of confectionery sales increased by 18% in the control stores
    during the pre-Easter period but only 5% in the intervention stores
    (p<0.001). The absolute difference in confectionery sales between control
    and intervention stores was approximately 21 kilograms per store per week, which translated in fewer total calories in customers baskets.

    Together, the papers offer new evidence on how legislation can help shape consumers' diets with the goal of improving health. "This research has important implications for the development of policies by retailers or governments to bring dietary intakes closer to recommendations for good health," the authors write. "Strategies aiming at informing customers
    about healthier options are unlikely to work in isolation." Regarding the first study, Piernas adds, "The Government in England has announced new legislation to restrict promotions of foods high in sugars, salt and
    saturated fat (HFSS) in prominent locations. This project established a partnership with a large UK food retailer to evaluate an intervention
    to remove seasonal chocolate confectionery from prominent areas of
    the store, specifically end-of-aisles and entrance areas, over 7 weeks
    before the Easter period. These results from a 'real world' intervention provide promising evidence that the proposed legislation in England to
    restrict promotions of less healthy items in prominent locations may
    help reduce over-consumption." Regarding the second study, Piernas
    adds, "In this multi-retailer partnership, we conducted an independent evaluation of six in-store interventions within three major UK food
    retailers aimed at improving food purchasing behaviours. We reported
    that some choice architecture interventions implemented within stores,
    such as availability and promotions, were associated with short-term
    changes in food purchasing behaviours. However, the effect of promotions
    on consumer behaviour may diminish with time and are less likely to be sustainable for retailers over longer time periods."

    ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by PLOS. Note: Content may be edited
    for style and length.


    ========================================================================== Journal References:
    1. Carmen Piernas, Georgina Harmer, Susan A. Jebb. Removing seasonal
    confectionery from prominent store locations and purchasing
    behaviour within a major UK supermarket: Evaluation of a
    nonrandomised controlled intervention study. PLOS Medicine, 2022;
    19 (3): e1003951 DOI: 10.1371/ journal.pmed.1003951
    2. Carmen Piernas, Georgina Harmer, Susan A. Jebb. Testing
    availability,
    positioning, promotions, and signage of healthier food options and
    purchasing behaviour within major UK supermarkets: Evaluation of
    6 nonrandomised controlled intervention studies. PLOS Medicine,
    2022; 19 (3): e1003952 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003952 ==========================================================================

    Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220324143758.htm

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