Supermarket Psychology: How We Would Buy Healthier Groceries – Panorama – Society

It is an open secret that all kinds of psychology are used in supermarkets. The placement of fruit and vegetables, the meat counter and the refrigerated section have been carefully chosen so that we can pack our shopping trolleys as full as possible. In two studies, British scientists have now investigated whether similar mechanisms could be used to encourage people to buy more healthy and fewer unhealthy foods. In fact, an improved supply structure made a difference, while special offers only brought short-term effects.

Chocolate Easter bunnies and sugar eggs before Easter, gingerbread and cinnamon stars before Christmas: Every year, large special areas in the supermarkets tempt us to buy all kinds of sweets weeks before the respective holidays. A team led by nutritionist Carmen Piernas from the University of Oxford is now investigating what happens if these special areas are not set up.

In 34 branches of a British supermarket chain, displays of seasonal chocolates and sweets were removed seven weeks before Easter. The delicacies were still available elsewhere in the shops.

The experiment ties in with plans by the UK government, which has announced plans to restrict the advertising and prominent placement of foods high in sugar, salt and saturated fat in stores – in response to the UK’s growing sugar and sugar consumption across all age groups saturated fatty acids are absorbed.

In fact, the researchers found that the usual seasonal increase in confectionery sales was lower due to the removal of the displays: in 151 control shops with corresponding special areas, confectionery sales rose by 18 percent in the period before Easter, in the intervention shops by only 5 percent.

As the scientists report in the journal “PLOS Medicine”, the absolute difference between control and intervention shops in the sale of confectionery was 21 kilograms per shop and week. That would equate to a lower total calorie count in customers’ shopping carts, the authors said.

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In a second study, the same team examined six marketing efforts to see if they could boost sales of healthier options, with mixed results: For example, when low-fat fries were added to a supermarket’s offering, sales of regular fries fell by 23 percent. With a wider range of reduced-sugar cookies, customers were more likely to buy low-calorie options (up 18 percent) and fewer regular cookies (down 4 percent).

Briefly higher sales brought targeted special offers for seasonal fruit and vegetables as well as a campaign in which Disney characters were used to promote selected fruits and baked beans. On the other hand, the positioning of breakfast cereals with a higher fiber content and/or less sugar at eye level with customers had no effect, nor did special labeling of low-sugar or sugar-free drinks at the edge of the shelf.

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For the authors, their study provides indications of which measures could be further researched and possibly used as a basis for the development of corresponding regulations. However, they also emphasize that the interventions studied focused on encouraging a switch from a less healthy to a healthier option or increasing overall sales of healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables.

They write: “The impact of these measures on the total energy content of grocery purchases is likely to be significantly smaller than measures specifically aimed at reducing impulse purchases, such as removing foods high in fat, sugar and salt from prominent locations such as on End of corridors.”

In fact, another British study recently found that supermarket shoppers bought significantly fewer candies if they weren’t placed in the checkout area at the end of the shopping route. Conversely, fruit and vegetables were picked up more often when they were displayed in the entrance area of ​​the shop. However, this is often a popular place for such goods anyway for psychological reasons: the colorful range is intended to suggest freshness and health. (dpa)

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