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HealthFocus, Inc. Des Moines, Iowa
Address reprint requests to: Linda C. Gilbert, HealthFocus, Inc., P.O. Box 7174, Des Moines, IA 50312.
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ABSTRACT |
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Methods: The data for this study were collected from written questionnaires completed by 2,074 qualified respondents in August, September and October of 1998. The research was conducted in two stages: 1. A telephone pre-recruit from a national probability sample of households qualified respondents as Primary Grocery Shoppers (those who make most of the food buying decisions for their household or who equally share that responsibility). 2. A 12-page, self-administered questionnaire was mailed to qualified respondents. Respondents to this survey represent shoppers in the U.S. in all respects except race. Women account for 81% of the survey respondents, since they do most of the household shopping.
Results: Most shoppers believe foods can offer benefits that reach beyond basic nutrition to functional nutrition for disease prevention and health enhancement. As consumers better understand the functional benefits of eggs, from Prevention to Performance, Wellness, Nurturing and Cosmetics, eggs will continue to play an important role in healthy eating for many consumers.
Conclusions: Eggs are considered a healthy food by most consumers as long as they are eaten in moderation. Increased egg consumption is being driven by consumer interest in health benefits that reach beyond dietary avoidance strategies to positive nutrition strategies. Today’s self-reliant approach to health creates significant opportunities for health and nutrition marketers to use knowledge-based marketing programs to shape present and future health decisions and product choices among shoppers.
Key words: eggs, consumers, functional foods, nutraceuticals
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INTRODUCTION |
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TOPFOOTNOTESABSTRACTINTRODUCTIONMETHODSRESULTS |
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METHODS |
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TOPFOOTNOTESABSTRACTINTRODUCTIONMETHODSRESULTS |
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The HealthFocus Survey has yielded results from more than 2000 PGS in 1998, 1996, and 1994, and 1000 PGS in 1992 and 1990. Each year about 80% of the respondents are women.
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RESULTS |
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TOPFOOTNOTESABSTRACTINTRODUCTIONMETHODSRESULTS |
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Although diet is very important to about two-thirds of shoppers, this attitude does not always translate into careful eating. Only 10% of shoppers always choose foods for health reasons. Another 60% usually do so, 24% sometimes do so, and 6% rarely or never choose foods for health reasons.
The numbers show a continuing shift from ‘always’ or ‘usually’ to ‘sometimes.’ The change comes from the moderately committed: the percentage of shoppers who usually eat healthy foods has dropped eleven points since 1990, with a corresponding increase in the number of shoppers who sometimes do so.
At the same time, there has been no change in shoppers’ desire to improve their diets. Most shoppers see room for improvement and continue to aspire to eat healthily more often. Seventy-nine percent of shoppers consider their diet to be healthy, but only 17% are very satisfied with their eating habits.
Consumer Priorities For Functional Foods
HealthFocus has identified four consumer priorities in choosing healthy foods that will fuel success for functional foods.
1. Taste, Taste and More Taste.
The primary obstacle to making healthy choices is taste. Today’s shoppers are less willing than ever to compromise taste for health benefits. At the same time, perceptions of the taste and enjoyment of healthy foods have declined. Only 27% of shoppers think healthy foods taste better, down from 35% in 1990. Women are significantly more likely to like the taste of healthy foods: 29% of women agree or strongly agree healthy foods taste better, compared to 19% of men.
Almost one in two shoppers (46%) won’t give up good taste for health benefits, up from one in three shoppers (33%) in 1990. Fewer shoppers are avoiding some favorite foods in order to eat more healthily today as well. Men are less likely to give up favorite foods: 21% of men rarely or never avoid favorite foods for health reasons, compared to 15% of women.
2. Self-Medication, Self-Education.
Consumers remain confident in their ability to manage their own health. They are willing to try alternative health care practices and are experimenting with new products offering herbal and nutritional ingredients for health care. Nutritional and herbal solutions are believable to many consumers as a way to manage health with less dependence on medicines. As a result, nutraceuticals and functional foods are making their way into the marketplace. Shoppers have a growing desire to be self-reliant in these matters, fueling trends in self-education. Marketers need to enable shoppers to be self-reliant about their health care by providing shoppers with smarter products, simpler information and do-it-yourself know-how.
3. Nutritional Individualization.
Almost three out of four (72%) shoppers agree that everyone has different nutritional needs from everyone else; one in five (19%) shoppers strongly agrees. Not only do shoppers believe individuals differ from one another, they believe that their own needs change based on their levels of activity. More than half (58%) at least sometimes modify their own diets with this in mind. Marketers need to deliver health and nutrition products that are nutritionally customized, whether personally customized (‘right for me’), situationally customized (‘what I need now’), or otherwise customized. Differing life stages and health conditions require customization and personalization to deliver ‘what is best for me.’ For example, brands that are clearly identified with women, children or shoppers of certain ages have significant opportunities to customize their products for shoppers in nutritionally logical ways. Products that are strongly occasion-oriented can use that occasion to help consumers place the health and nutrition value of the product.
4. Filling the Gaps.
Looking for solutions to fill in the nutritional gaps left by hurried eating habits, shoppers are changing significantly their attitudes about the importance of supplements and nutritionally fortified foods and beverages. Almost two-thirds (62%) of shoppers agree daily supplements are important, up from 49% in 1994. More than half (56%) feel the same about foods and beverages fortified with added vitamins and minerals, up from 54% two years ago. In turn, more shoppers are using supplements, from multi-vitamins to specialty formulas to nutritional beverages and bars. By helping consumers see where they have nutritional gaps to be filled, and delivering products and communications that address those gaps, marketers can spur interest and influence behavior.
Beyond Basic Nutrition—Functional Nutrition
Consumers recognize a variety of benefits from making healthy choices that reach beyond basic nutrition. Eating healthy foods has emotional (self-esteem), physical (feel good) and cosmetic (look good) benefits for shoppers today. Seventy-eight percent of shoppers agree that ‘eating healthy makes me feel good about myself,’ and 70% agree they feel better physically when they eat healthy foods. Almost two-thirds (64%) agree ‘healthy eating improves my physical appearance,’ and 60% say their physical appearance is more attractive at the result of general health and nutrition habits.
Consumers also recognize medical benefits from eating healthy foods. Fifty-four percent agree and 11% strongly agree that foods can be employed to reduce their use of some drugs and other medical therapies. This is up from 52% in 1996 and 41% in 1994. When asked their primary reason for choosing healthy foods, 13% of consumers choose ‘to control or treat an existing problem.’ One in three shoppers (33%) always or usually choose foods for specific medical purposes, such as chicken soup for a cold or cranberry juice for urinary infections.
Despite this interest in benefits that reach beyond basic nutrition, only 24% of shoppers have heard a lot or some about functional foods, up from 22% in 1996. About half (53%) have not heard of functional foods.
Even fewer shoppers (10%) have heard a lot or some about nutraceuticals, up from 7% in 1996. Three out of four (75%) have not heard of nutraceuticals.
Consumers Want To Know More
Shoppers are looking for a variety of health benefits from the foods and beverages they buy and use. Foods that boost the immune system, reduce disease risk and enhance health have appeal to more than three out of four Americans (Fig. 1).
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As Americans continue to look for ways to improve their eating habits, eggs are being eaten more often. The increase in egg consumption is being driven by consumer interest in health benefits that reach beyond dietary avoidance strategies to positive nutrition strategies. While most consumers in the past ten or fifteen years have based their health choices on prevention benefits, with a focus on avoiding fat, cholesterol, calories and other nutritional undesirables, consumers today are shifting their focus to trying to eat more nutritionally desirable foods.
Eggs play an important role in healthy eating habits. About two in three shoppers today eat eggs weekly (62%), up from 59% in 1992 and 1994. Thirty percent of shoppers eat eggs at least twice a week, and 32% eat eggs weekly. Only 5% don’t use eggs at all (Fig. 3).
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Performance.
(31% are frequent egg users.) Performance benefits are about health enhancement. Consumers talk about accomplishment, excelling and peak abilities when they talk about Performance benefits. They see a strong fit for eggs as a high protein, high quality energy food. Watch for choline to reach consumers radar screens—for improved mental performance.
Wellness.
(33% are frequent egg users.) Wellness benefits involve balance, moderation and feeling good. Wellness is typically the most holistic of the five benefits and is about nourishing the body, mind and spirit. Eggs have a long Wellness tradition and association for consumers—offering simplicity, wholesomeness, purity and balance.
Nurturing.
(38% are frequent egg users.) Nurturing benefits involve growth and development and quality of life. Nurturers are caretakers, usually of children. Eggs fit especially well into healthy eating habits for Nurturers, as they are not often fat or cholesterol concerned. Their focus is on wholesome nutrition—to lay a strong foundation of health for their children. Shoppers who are most strongly oriented to Nurturing benefits are the most likely to be frequent egg users (Fig. 5).
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Sources of Information
Shoppers today rely on a combination of sources for health and nutrition information. No single information source is definitive for today’s information-oriented shoppers. Food labels and physicians are widely used information sources, but when all media sources are netted together, the media are the most powerful information sources. Whether the shopper is watching TV, listening to the radio, reading magazines or newspapers or noting advertisements, the media are highly influential in building consumer awareness and know-how.
Frequent egg users are more likely than non-users to turn to television, radio, women’s magazines, newspapers and dietitians for useful health and nutrition information. Non-users of eggs put more emphasis on labels and health magazines compared to frequent egg users (Table 2).
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Knowledge-based marketing strategies will be key to success in the new millennium—especially for brands that lead their categories. It is effective strategy to surround a customer with information from a variety of sources including point of purchase, news, popular media, health media, advertising, health experts and more (Fig. 6).
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Today’s self-reliant approach to health creates significant opportunities for health and nutrition marketers to use knowledge-based marketing programs to shape present and future health decisions and product choices among shoppers.
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FOOTNOTES |
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Received June 1, 2000.
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