Determining motivators and barriers of college students in purchasing milk from on campus vending for use in development of tailored messages that promote purchase of vended milk

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Calcium intake decreases in many men and women from late adolescence to young adulthood. Because college students rely on food/beverage purchases from vending machines, milk vending, though not widespread, offers an opportunity for improving calcium intake. Research is needed to develop, test, and measure effectiveness of messages that would motivate students to purchase milk from vending machines. The objective of this study was to determine the primary motivators/barriers of on‐campus milk vending purchases in college students for future use in development of tailored messages that promote purchase of vended milk. We surveyed 152 students at the point of purchase from milk and non‐milk beverage vending machines. On a 5‐point Likert scale, the top motivators of consuming vended milk were: ease of taking ‘on the go,’ taste, and variety. Barriers were: mode of purchase, cost, limited availability of milk vending machines on campus, difficulty of taking vended milk ‘on‐the‐go,’ and calorie content. In the next phase of this project, we will develop messages that address these reported motivators/barriers and then test the pre‐determined messages in focus groups of college students. Identifying messages that resonate with the target audience is critical for effectively motivating students to increase consumption of calcium rich foods/beverages, particularly from convenient sources, such as vending machines.