Health and Wellbeing: The Shoppers' Perspective

Health and wellbeing is a subject of increasing concern among shoppers, retailers and manufacturers. The pressure is well and truly on - from government, press and consumers - for brands to demonstrate their health credentials. Indeed the number of health related initiatives from FMCGs has snowballed in recent times.

But how do shoppers respond to the plethora of different health initiatives aimed in their direction at the point of purchase? Which messages actually work with shoppers and which don’t? These are key questions of our forthcoming project, “Health and Wellbeing: The Shoppers’ Perspective” - and we believe there are a whole number of different dimensions to consider.

A multi-dimensional problem

Clearly gender is a key, although Evolution’s recent research suggests that younger males in particular are beginning to catch up with females. Indeed age is another dimension, and with generation Y male shoppers carrying greater concerns over personal care than their predecessors, targeting females only with health messages may now be only part of the equation. Granted, males may well be less susceptible to dietary claims than females, but there are other ways of targeting men with health credentials. Just consider for a moment the difference in marketing message between Diet Coke and Pepsi Max.

Shopper missions

Shopper missions are also vital to consider. The motivations and behaviours of shoppers conducting their weekly supermarket trolley shop, versus those while snacking on-the-go or example, are quite different. Consider a shopper who carefully ponders over their purchases on the weekly shop. Planning meals for the week ahead, they might adopt a disciplined approach at this one time of the week where they know they can control their consumption for the week ahead. This shopper may even intentionally avoids ‘sin aisles’ in the supermarket altogether. And yet consider the same shopper picking up a bar of chocolate or packet of crisps at the checkout, whom rather than paying any attention to any health messaging on the packaging, justifies their indulgence as permissible on the basis of a ‘debit/credit’ mind-set – they might simply be rewarding themself for the sacrifices made earlier.

Channel strategy is also an important and related part of the mix. We know that shoppers shop by mission, not by channel, but their mission often directly influences their choice of channel. A top-up shopper in their local c-store is for example typically driven by convenience ahead of price, in contrast to a weekly supermarket shopper. But does their susceptibility to messages about health differ from the weekly supermarket shopper? Is a one size fits all approach the best strategy for targeting shoppers with messages about health and wellbeing?

Don’t forget the category

Of course the other obvious dimension here is category. While shoppers carry underlying values relating to health and wellbeing as a whole, their motivations and behaviours vary by category as well as mission and channel. Confectionery for example, while often associated with health concerns, is also considered by many shoppers a permissible treat – and one that offers good value for its calories in terms of indulgence and hunger satisfaction. Perhaps of more relevance to many shoppers are the less intuitive categories such as dairy or bakery, where there is less of an excuse for indulgence and more of an opportunity to plan and consider healthier alternatives.

Attitudes versus action

Then there’s the question of what people say versus what they actually do in-store. Our recent on-the-go study highlighted that while 38% of shoppers say they consider calories while shopping on-the-go, only 6% actually chose individual items because of their calorie content. This has important implications for brands considering how to balance health claims with any potential trade off in taste or brand. Indeed a recent study* suggests that making a health claim on a product can lead consumers to think it is less tasty and therefore less desirable.

Segmenting shoppers

Underlying all of this is the broader set of values different shoppers carry when it comes to health and wellbeing. Classic segmentation of shoppers according to their attitudes regarding health goes a long way - the approach to targeting a shopper who proactively seeks healthier alternatives is quite different to targeting a shopper who has healthy aspirations but is in reality more likely to favour indulgence over a compromise in taste.

Another dimension to consider here is the consumer shopper relationship. While the importance here certainly varies by category, there are clearly occasions where careful consideration of this dynamic is necessary. And again, channel plays a key role. Consider the difference in motivations between the mother on a weekly shop buying snacks for her children, and her children themselves buying snacks at the local independent or c-store on their way home from school or college.

Shopper marketing initiatives

Some notable examples of shopper marketing initiatives to date that seek to tackle the health issue include calorie marked packaging, product re-engineering, traffic light labelling, nutritional information on pack, and indeed broader claims relating to ‘5 a day’.

Others have chosen to focus more specifically on more scientific claims relating to pro-biotic’s, omega 3s and heart healthy ingredients, and some even look to leverage the connection many shoppers make (rightly or wrongly)between premium, organic and health.

While all these different initiatives may well be successful, marketers should be careful to consider the different dimensions of the shopper before jumping on the bandwagon. For example, with only 6% of on-the-go shoppers purchasing items because of calorie content, Evolution believes shoppers buying snacks may not be as receptive to information on packaging as perhaps thought. Claims that seek to dazzle shoppers with science may well be treated with caution rather than trust. And a study** into traffic light labelling on convenience food last year showed consumers actually bought fewer healthy ready meals after traffic-light labels were added.

In summary

At Evolution, we believe that shopper insight is central to a successful strategy for communicating health credentials. To truly understand the shopper, manufacturers and retailers should seek to understand how shoppers respond to different health initiatives at the point of purchase, in addition to how they behave as consumers. Communicating with shoppers, finding out which messages actually work and which don’t - in the context of the different dimensions presented above – are key steps to success. For further information regarding Evolution’s forthcoming project, “Health and Wellbeing: The Shopper Perspective”, please do not hesitate to contact us.

* ‘Health claims could impact natural perception’, Food & Drink Europe, 10/03/10

** Red? Go ahead, say indifferent shoppers, The Grocer, 09/11/09

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