Abstract
Food choices influence the health of individuals, and supermarkets are the place where part of the world population makes their food choices on a daily basis. Different methods to influence food purchasing habits are used, from promotions to food location. However, very few supermarket chains use social norms, the human need to conform to the perceived behavior of the group, to increase healthy food purchase habits. This research seeks to understand how a social norm nudge, a message conveying fruit and vegetable purchasing norms positioned in strategic places, can effectively change food choices. Using data from an intervention in a Portuguese supermarket, the fruit and vegetable purchase quantities of 1636 customers were measured over three months and compared with the corresponding period of the previous year. The results show that the nudge intervention positively affected those whose purchasing habits are categorized as less healthy, while those with healthy habits were slightly negatively affected. Moreover, a follow-up inferential statistical analysis allows us to conclude that applying this intervention at a larger scale would deliver significant financial results for the supermarket chain in which the study took place, by decreasing the costs related to produce perishability while simultaneously improving the health of the consumer and the sustainability of the planet.
Highlights
Published: 4 February 2021Due to the fast-paced modernization and technological advances of our society, we currently live in a world where computers, cars, and devices can facilitate our lives but, on the other hand, this results in a lack of mobility and physical activity [1].The World Health Organization (WHO) states that the lack of physical activity coupled with practices of unhealthy diet have led to a burgeoning of health diseases such as diabetes, heart diseases, strokes, various types of cancers, overweight, and obesity
This intervention took place in Amoreiras Shopping Center at Auchan, a French supermarket chain operating in Portugal, and it was deployed by Nudge Portugal with the goal of increasing the purchase of fruits and vegetables
Healthy lifestyles often start at the supermarket, and that is the exact place to influence people’s consuming behavior
Summary
Published: 4 February 2021Due to the fast-paced modernization and technological advances of our society, we currently live in a world where computers, cars, and devices can facilitate our lives but, on the other hand, this results in a lack of mobility and physical activity [1].The World Health Organization (WHO) states that the lack of physical activity coupled with practices of unhealthy diet have led to a burgeoning of health diseases such as diabetes, heart diseases, strokes, various types of cancers, overweight, and obesity. Due to the fast-paced modernization and technological advances of our society, we currently live in a world where computers, cars, and devices can facilitate our lives but, on the other hand, this results in a lack of mobility and physical activity [1]. Foods such as fruits and vegetables [2] This is most evident in the Portuguese context. According to the National Food, Nutrition, and Physical Activity Survey of the Portuguese general population, conducted from October 2015 to September 2016 [3], the overall consumption of fruits and vegetables is quite below the proportion of the recommended daily food intake for these food groups, according to the Portuguese Food Wheel Guide: −9% for vegetables (14% vs 23%) and −7%. When comparing the consumption profile of fruits and vegetables, by the Portuguese population, to the recommended intake
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