Healthier eating: Consumer response to packages

07/03/2014
Healthier eating:
Consumer response to packages
Workshop Communication February 11 & 12, 2014
Dr. Ellen van Kleef, Wageningen University, The Netherlands
What can be learnt from consumer science?
Package as ‘the salesman on the shelf’ guiding
consumers to
1. choose healthier (WHAT)
2. control portion sizes (HOW MUCH)
How package design may help consumers eat healthier
1. Provide health info –boomerang effect?
2. Create satiety expectations
3. Suggest consumption norms
4. Help monitoring
How much you eat matters, not just what
you eat
What is healthier eating?
Boundary model
Extremely
satisfied
zone of physical indifference
Extremely
hungry
Herman &
Polivy, 1984
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Larger portions usually not more
satisfying and compensated
‘Just a bite’ study on snacks (n=105)
– Small vs large portion of chocolate, chips and apple pie
– Appetite / craving measured before, immediately after
and 15 minutes after eating
Young &
Nestle, 2012
Van Kleef, Shimizu
and Wansink, 2013
Larger portions: 77% more calories
Satisfaction and craving: similar
How package design may help
consumers to eat healthier
Provide health information (implicit or explicit)
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‘Eat this not that’ – logo guidance
Key misinterpretations that may occur
Positivity bias
Magic bullet
Content
claim
Nonclaimed
Product
healthiness
Disease
risk
reduction
Behavioural
tendency
Halo effect
Roe et al. 1999
Health halos
Halo effect
If a person is judged to be performing well on one aspect,
this positive evaluation extends to other (unrelated) aspects
 Claims as ‘low fat’, ‘sugar-free’
 Words as ‘diet’, ‘multi-grain’ and ‘fibers’
 Organic food
Nisbett & Wilson,
1977
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Health halos
Green calorie label makes candy bar healthier
In restaurants positioning themselves as ‘healthy’, consumers
order more side dishes, up to 131% more calories
Schuldt, 2013
Power of expectations
How package design may help
consumers to eat healthier
Expectations
and desires
Looking for proof
confirmation-bias
(unconscious)
satisfaction/
acceptance
Create satiety or great taste expectations
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If it sounds good, it tastes good
Healthy=untasty intuition
Raghunathan et al., 2006
Food ads work better if all senses are involved
What’s in a name?
28% higher sales of vegetables by changing expectations
 X-ray vision carrots, Power Punch Broccoli, instead of
 Multisensory advertising
‘food of the day’ of no name
Elder and Krishna, 2009
Wansink et al., 2012
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Tricking the mind into satisfying the stomach
Expected satiety changed
Two groups of participants, both got same 450 ml fruit smoothie
GROUP 1 (n=28)
This went into your
smoothie:
GROUP 2 (n=22)
This went into your
smoothie:
Brunstrom et al., 2011
Brunstrom et al., 2011
Same 380 calorie shake, different label
Feel full for longer
Dott
Brunstrom et al., 2011
Crum et al., 2012
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Labels even influence satiety hormone Ghrelin
The yoghurt that is more dense than your
appetite…
 De yoghurt die steviger is dan je trek
Crum et al., 2012
Nudging children towards whole wheat
bread
How package design may help
consumers to eat healthier
Suggesting consumption norms
Van Kleef et al., in
preparation
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Framing of portion size
Vertical-horizontal illusion
Consumption
illusions
Delboeuf illusion
Smith et al., 2009
Labels led consumers to eat less when food was given
larger sounding name
 Double versus regular
 Regular versus half-size
Just et al.,
2013
More food put on plate when food matches
plate colour
How package design may help
consumers to eat healthier
Help monitoring how much you eat
Van Ittersum and
Wansink, 2011
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Portion size versus unit size
Monitoring
Keeping track of how much you eat
Package may create pause moments
Wansink et al., 2005
Equal portions, but different units
23% less chocolate small unit size
300
Calorie intake
In which situation would you eat the most?
package
absent
250
package
present
200
150
100
50
0
large unit size
small unit size
Unit size of chocolate
Van Kleef, Kavvouris &
Van Trijp, under review
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07/03/2014
100 calorie packs
Edible ‘stop’ signals?
Geier et al., 2012
100 calorie packs
Concluding remarks
Package not only helps consumers deciding
what to eat but also to manage how much
to eat
Suggest reasonable portions
Raise satiety expectations
Overcome healthy=untasty intuition and
health halo
Inconsistent findings
 Less intake (zie o.a. Raynor et al., 2009; Wansink et al., 2011)
 Small sizes may ‘fly under the radar’ (Coelhoe et al., 2008)
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Thanks
Ellen.vanKleef@wur.nl / Twitter: @Ellenvankleef
Blog Food Intake Control:
http://foodintakecontrol.blogspot.com/
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