Abstract
ObjectivesThis study examined the effect of a 10 and 20% meal price increase when choosing French fries and a 10 and 20% meal price reduction when choosing fruit for dessert on university students’ purchasing behaviour in an on-campus restaurant. The moderating effect of gender was also investigated. Secondly, this study aimed at gaining further insight into reasons why these price manipulations did or did not change students’ purchasing behaviour.Materials and MethodsThis two-phased mixed-methods study was conducted in a Belgian on-campus university restaurant with approximately 1200 to 1300 student visitors per day. In a first phase (French fries experiment), data were collected during a control week (no price manipulation) and two separate intervention weeks (10 and 20% meal price increase when students chose French fries). In a second phase (fruit experiment), following the same protocol but carried out a few weeks later, meal prices were reduced by 10 and 20% when students chose fruit for dessert. French fries and fruit sale counts relative to the total number of items sold were used as outcome measure. Short interviews were conducted in convenient subsamples of student customers to assess influences on food choice.Key findingsIncreasing the meal price by 10 and 20% when choosing French fries was associated with respective 10.9 and 21.8% absolute reductions in French fries purchases, while reducing the meal price by 10 and 20% when choosing fruit for dessert was associated with absolute increases in fruit purchases of respectively 25.1 and 42.4% (all p<0.001). No moderating effect of gender was detected. Besides price, food/taste preference, eating habits, health, availability and accessibility, and body satisfaction influenced students’ food choices, with taste being the most frequently mentioned factor.SignificancePricing may be a promising strategy to improve university students’ eating behaviour. The likelihood of intervention success may increase when combining pricing strategies with offering healthy, tasty and meal matching starchy alternatives to French fries and offering a variety of fresh and appealing fruits.
Highlights
The years at college or university is a period characterized by changes in eating behaviour [1,2,3]
A significant positive association was found between the frequency of eating at the on-campus university restaurant of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Brussels, Belgium) and increases in body mass index (BMI) and fat%, suggesting that Belgian students eating at the on-campus restaurant might make more unhealthy food choices [4]
In comparison to control week sales data (52.8% of all students eating lunch at the on-campus restaurant consumed French fries), significant decreases in French fries sales to respectively 41.9% and 31.0% were found during the first (10% meal price increase) and the second (20% meal price increase) intervention week
Summary
The years at college or university is a period characterized by changes in eating behaviour [1,2,3]. One strategy to help students make healthier food choices comprises price manipulations. A review by Andreyeva and colleagues [7] showed that price elasticity is highest for food away from home, soft drinks, juice, meats, and fruit, which means that, if the price of these foods increases, consumption will decrease, and vice versa. According to this economic theory, price adjustments could encourage people to make more healthy food choices. Epstein and colleagues [8] argued that, without the knowledge that a price manipulation is implemented, the price change may not influence behaviour. Along with pricing strategies, people should be informed and be fully aware of the price adjustments in order to maximise their effect on purchasing [8]
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