Weight management is affected by food choice. It is important to show how challenging an environment a grocery store is from a weight management perspective. The subjects were recruited by delivering 1,000 questionnai...Weight management is affected by food choice. It is important to show how challenging an environment a grocery store is from a weight management perspective. The subjects were recruited by delivering 1,000 questionnaires in November-December 2009 at the K-Citymarket Kolmisoppi, Kuopio, Finland. The subjects （n = 36, age 18-65） were recruited to represent consumers of varied experience in weight management. The subjects＇ shopping behavior was studied using verbal analysis protocol combined with wireless audio-visual observation, questionnaires and interviews in the K-Citymarket in April-May 2010. For two consecutive tasks, the subjects were given a shopping list of I 1 food categories. During the first task, they were asked to select a product they usually buy and during the second task, a product they would use for weight management. The subjects made their decisions routinely as there were none stimuli available at a supermarket in relation to weight management choices apart from versatile, abundant and small-sized labels all over food packages. The subjects had challenges while choosing food, such as the time taken （maximum 225 s） to find a suitable product among all the options of a wide product category, for example, 459 ready meals per product category with the energy variation from 30 to 330 kcal/100 g, and understanding all package labels properly, such as the GDA-label in relation to the nutrition content table. The subjects had practical suggestions, such as colored labels in shelves, how consumer-oriented marketing communication and services should be developed and provided by retailers cooperatively with health-care actors to promote consumers＇ awareness of food choices from the weight management perspective in groceries. For a consumer, it is important to be able to easily find and compare suitable products from a weight management point of view. Successful consumer marketing will achieve desirable results for manufacturers, retailers and consumers as well as benefit the society＇s welfare in the long run.展开更多
文摘Weight management is affected by food choice. It is important to show how challenging an environment a grocery store is from a weight management perspective. The subjects were recruited by delivering 1,000 questionnaires in November-December 2009 at the K-Citymarket Kolmisoppi, Kuopio, Finland. The subjects （n = 36, age 18-65） were recruited to represent consumers of varied experience in weight management. The subjects＇ shopping behavior was studied using verbal analysis protocol combined with wireless audio-visual observation, questionnaires and interviews in the K-Citymarket in April-May 2010. For two consecutive tasks, the subjects were given a shopping list of I 1 food categories. During the first task, they were asked to select a product they usually buy and during the second task, a product they would use for weight management. The subjects made their decisions routinely as there were none stimuli available at a supermarket in relation to weight management choices apart from versatile, abundant and small-sized labels all over food packages. The subjects had challenges while choosing food, such as the time taken （maximum 225 s） to find a suitable product among all the options of a wide product category, for example, 459 ready meals per product category with the energy variation from 30 to 330 kcal/100 g, and understanding all package labels properly, such as the GDA-label in relation to the nutrition content table. The subjects had practical suggestions, such as colored labels in shelves, how consumer-oriented marketing communication and services should be developed and provided by retailers cooperatively with health-care actors to promote consumers＇ awareness of food choices from the weight management perspective in groceries. For a consumer, it is important to be able to easily find and compare suitable products from a weight management point of view. Successful consumer marketing will achieve desirable results for manufacturers, retailers and consumers as well as benefit the society＇s welfare in the long run.
