EATING HABITS, STRESS LEVELS NOT RELATED
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CHICAGO—Comfort food and high stress situations don't go hand in hand as most think, according to new research that was presented at the 2013 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Expo®.
“Habits don’t change in a high-pressure situation," said David Neal, Ph.D., psychologist and founding partner at Empirica Research. “People default to what their habits are under stress, whether healthy or not."
The study, appearing in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, showed that people consuming high-calorie, low-nutrient comfort food is a false theory. Those in high-stress situations tend to seek out foods that they eat out of habit, whether they are healthy or unhealthy.
In the study, the group of researchers asked 50 MBA students at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) about their eating habits during midterms. They were asked to pick from a group of healthy snacks including, fruit, non-fat yogurt, whole wheat crackers, nuts/soy chips, and from unhealthy options like candy bars, cookies or flavored popcorn. In addition, the students were asked about the frequency of their snacking showing that at the peak level of stress like during exam time, they were likely to fall back on their habitual snack.
“Habits are 45 percent of daily life," Neal said. “They cause us to disregard rational or motivational drivers and instead be cued by context, automated actions, time pressure and low self-control."
This kind of research has significant implications for food manufacturers trying to establish new products with consumers, said panelist Neale Martin, Ph.D., founding partner of Sublime Behavior Marketing and author of Habit: the 95% of Behavior Marketers Ignore.
Martin noted that consumers already are habituated to the current products on store shelves, with the average weekly shopping trip taking about 45 minutes and including 31 items.
“Think about the cognitive efficiency of that effort," Martin said. “Think of how many things you’re not looking at; how many things you are ignoring."
Martin feels that about 80% of new products fail or dramatically underperform, a rate that has been largely unchanged for decades. Making a new product a part of a consumers daily habit is key.
Martin suggests product developers go beyond the traditional consumer trials and get consumers to absorb the product into their daily life over an extend period of time. They need to find a place in their day where they are willing to disrupt their current habit and adopt a new one with that product.
“Where is the room for another brand in your life? Where is there room for another product? We are overwhelmed by choices," he said. “Figure out the automated behavior and then find out how to disrupt it and get consumers to initiate the behavior you want. You have to get the behavior to occur and then reinforce it by making sure the experience is so fantastic they want it to happen again."
The study, appearing in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, showed that people consuming high-calorie, low-nutrient comfort food is a false theory. Those in high-stress situations tend to seek out foods that they eat out of habit, whether they are healthy or unhealthy.
In the study, the group of researchers asked 50 MBA students at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) about their eating habits during midterms. They were asked to pick from a group of healthy snacks including, fruit, non-fat yogurt, whole wheat crackers, nuts/soy chips, and from unhealthy options like candy bars, cookies or flavored popcorn. In addition, the students were asked about the frequency of their snacking showing that at the peak level of stress like during exam time, they were likely to fall back on their habitual snack.
“Habits are 45 percent of daily life," Neal said. “They cause us to disregard rational or motivational drivers and instead be cued by context, automated actions, time pressure and low self-control."
This kind of research has significant implications for food manufacturers trying to establish new products with consumers, said panelist Neale Martin, Ph.D., founding partner of Sublime Behavior Marketing and author of Habit: the 95% of Behavior Marketers Ignore.
Martin noted that consumers already are habituated to the current products on store shelves, with the average weekly shopping trip taking about 45 minutes and including 31 items.
“Think about the cognitive efficiency of that effort," Martin said. “Think of how many things you’re not looking at; how many things you are ignoring."
Martin feels that about 80% of new products fail or dramatically underperform, a rate that has been largely unchanged for decades. Making a new product a part of a consumers daily habit is key.
Martin suggests product developers go beyond the traditional consumer trials and get consumers to absorb the product into their daily life over an extend period of time. They need to find a place in their day where they are willing to disrupt their current habit and adopt a new one with that product.
“Where is the room for another brand in your life? Where is there room for another product? We are overwhelmed by choices," he said. “Figure out the automated behavior and then find out how to disrupt it and get consumers to initiate the behavior you want. You have to get the behavior to occur and then reinforce it by making sure the experience is so fantastic they want it to happen again."
Sources:
- Institute of Food Technologists: Habits, Not Cravings, Drive Food Choice During Times of Stress
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