Exploring the Link between Obesityand Food Purchasing Behaviour

in the West Midlands:Research Methodology & Key Findings

Professor Andrew Fearne

Outline

About Us

Research Methodology

Key Findings

Conclusions

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About Us

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Centre for Value Chain Research

• 8 Core Staff

• 12 PhD students

Focus on applied research with strong industry links and multiple stakeholder engagement

• Demand Management

NPD (key success factors) Promotions (evaluation) Sustainable consumption (behaviour change)

• Value Chain Management

Value Chain Analysis (process improvement) Co-regulation (food safety) B2B Relationships (organisational Justice)

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Social

EnvironmentalEconomic

Social

EnvironmentalEconomic

FOOD

Research Context - Sustainability

Challenges:• Complex

• Dynamic

• Universal

Solutions:• Holistic

• Multi-disciplinary

• Cross-functional

• Multiple stakeholders

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Research Focus

• Focus on understanding and changing behaviour Individual (consumer) Collective (organisations)

• multi-disciplinary frameworks• mixed research methods• collaborative networks (government, industry, NGOs)

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Research Methodology

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Behaviour Change

• Use behaviour data to target (design and implement) and evaluate interventions People rarely do (did) what they say (have done)

• they lie• they forget• they misinterpret • their circumstances change

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Change behaviour

Change attitudes

Increase Knowledge

Raise Awareness

Attitude – Intention - Behaviour Gap

Necessary but not sufficient

Need to evaluate impact here

not here

Behaviour Change

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Change behaviour

Change attitudes

Increase Knowledge

Raise Awareness

Create enabling environment

Necessary but not sufficient

Need to evaluate impact here

not here

Behaviour Change

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Supermarket loyalty card data

2 years of weekly supermarket transactions

Population = 17 million households Sample = 10% (1.7 million shoppers)

Representative of 40%+ of UK households

Over 30,000 food products

(265,000+ total)

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The data is segmented by:• Lifestage• Lifestyle• Region• Geodemographics

This allows us to understand the purchasing behaviour of different consumer groups

Why is this useful?The data allows us to understand

• What is bought• When it is bought• What it is bought alongside• Where it is bought • Who it is bought by

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Case Studies

• Increasing the use of carbon labels – young families

• Reducing obesity – single parent & low incomef amilies

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Key Findings

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Obesity Project - Research Objectives

• Establish the potential value of combining supermarket panel data with other data sources to target specific consumer segments with differentiated interventions to achieve behaviour change that will result in a reduction in the incidence of obesity

• Provide DHWM with an evidence base from which they can develop targeted intervention strategies for reducing the incidence of obesity in the region

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Obesity Project - Research Methodology

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Phase 1 Identify target area

• Analyse dunnhumby data to identify Tesco store with the highest penetration of ‘unhealthy’ food products and lowest penetration of ‘healthy’ products amongst single parent and low income households

Explore attitudes, perceptions and purchase drivers• Four focus groups with single mothers all with BMIndex >30

(plus two control groups with BMI <30) Quantify barriers, enablers and potential impact of

targeted intervention• Face to face interviews with 200 shoppers in target area, all

with BMIs over 30 and on-line survey of 200 households across the UK with varied BMIs

Phase 2 Develop, implement and evaluate targeted intervention

Identify target group Two Cameo (Geo-demoghraphic) segments

• Poorer and single parent households (10.1% UK householdds)• Poorer council tenants including many single parents (10.7% UK

households)

Identify discrimnating products 15 ‘unhealthy’ food categories (361 products) 11 ‘healthy’ food categories (216 products)

Obesity Project – Key Findings (Phase 1a)

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‘Healthy’ & ‘Unhealthy’ Products

‘Healthy’ Categories No. of Products

‘Unhealthy’ Categories No. of Products

Apples 30 Soft Drink 30 Brocolli 10 Crisps 30 Carrots 10 Frozen Ready Meals 30 Citrus 23 Sausages 30 Fruit Juice 30 Sweets 30 Grapes 11 Baked Bean Meals 16 Potatoes 30 Biscuits 30 Soft Fruit 12 Burgers 30 Canned Fruit 30 Chicken Nuggets 18 Dried Fruit 30 Chips 27 Frozen Vegetables 30 Frozen Pizza 30 Chocolate Bars 30 Pot Noodles 30 Chilled Ready Meals 30 Pies, pizza and savouries 30 Total 216 361

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Source: dunnhumby (2010)

Shopper Profiling – ‘Unhealthy’ SKUs

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Baked Bean Meals

Burgers Carbonated Drinks

Chicken Nuggets Chips Choc Bars & Sweets

Crisps Frozen Pizza & Frozen Ready

Meals

Pot Noodles Sausages

Young and Affluent Singles Wealthy Retired Neighbourhoods Affluent Home Owners Smaller Private Family HomesComfortable Mixed Neighbourhoods Less Affluent Families Less Affluent Singles and Students Poorer White and Blue Collar WorkersPoorer Family and Single Parent Households Poorer Council Tenants - Many Single Parents

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Source: dunnhumby (2010)

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Shopper Profiling – ‘Healthy’ SKUs

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Apples Brocoli Carrots Citrus Fruit Juice Grapes Potatoes Soft Fruit

Young and Affluent Singles Wealthy Retired Neighbourhoods Affluent Home Owners Smaller Private Family HomesComfortable Mixed Neighbourhoods Less Affluent Families Less Affluent Singles and Students Poorer White and Blue Collar WorkersPoorer Family and Single Parent Households Poorer Council Tenants - Many Single Parents

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Source: dunnhumby (2010)

Penetration of ‘unhealthy’ baskets

Store name Customers Units SoldStore

Format County Town/City

COVENTRY ARENA EXTRA 20730 549210 Extra WEST MIDLANDS COVENTRY

REDDITCH EXTRA 15090 601270 Extra WORCESTERSHIRE REDDITCH

LONGTON EXTRA 14800 518760 Extra STAFFORDSHIRE LONGTON

BIRMINGHAM ASTON LANE 13830 264620 Superstore WEST MIDLANDS BIRMINGHAM

DUDLEY 13120 396470 Superstore WEST MIDLANDS DUDLEY

NEW OSCOTT EXTRA 11760 348410 Extra WEST MIDLANDS SUTTON COLDFIELD

EDGBASTON 11750 185280 Superstore WEST MIDLANDS BIRMINGHAM

COVENTRY CROSSPT EXT 11730 201690 Extra WEST MIDLANDS COVENTRY

SOLIHULL EXTRA 11600 183710 Extra WEST MIDLANDS SOLIHULL

TELFORD EXTRA 11140 329130 Extra SHROPSHIRE TELFORD

CRADLEY HEATH EXTRA 10700 333120 Extra WEST MIDLANDS DUDLEY

COVENTRY WALSGRAVE 9090 262990 Superstore WEST MIDLANDS COVENTRY

EVESHAM WORCESTER RD 8810 365910 Superstore WORCESTERSHIRE EVESHAM

STRATFORD UPON AVON 8700 273120 Superstore WARWICKSHIRE STRATFORD-ON-AVON

WILLENHALL 8300 214120 Superstore WEST MIDLANDS WILLENHALL

WALSALL 8150 143070 Metro WEST MIDLANDS WALSALL

CANNOCK 7480 244640 Superstore STAFFORDSHIRE CANNOCK

HALL GREEN 7410 198050 Superstore WEST MIDLANDS SOLIHULL

BIRMINGHAM CAX METRO 7400 45130 Metro WEST MIDLANDS BIRMINGHAM

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Source: dunnhumby (2010)

Penetration of ‘healthy’ baskets

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Source: dunnhumby (2010)

Store name Customers Units Sold Store Format County Town/City

COVENTRY ARENA EXTRA 18700 340030 Extra WEST MIDLANDS COVENTRY

REDDITCH EXTRA 13830 402660 Extra WORCESTERSHIRE REDDITCH

LONGTON EXTRA 13140 277700 Extra STAFFORDSHIRE LONGTON

BIRMINGHAM ASTON LANE 11790 181530 Superstore WEST MIDLANDS BIRMINGHAM

DUDLEY 10730 221540 Superstore WEST MIDLANDS DUDLEY

NEW OSCOTT EXTRA 10500 218440 Extra WEST MIDLANDS SUTTON COLDFIELD

EDGBASTON 10220 153830 Superstore WEST MIDLANDS BIRMINGHAM

SOLIHULL EXTRA 9880 141720 Extra WEST MIDLANDS SOLIHULL

COVENTRY CROSSPT EXT 9640 148880 Extra WEST MIDLANDS COVENTRY

TELFORD EXTRA 9480 219300 Extra SHROPSHIRE TELFORD

CRADLEY HEATH EXTRA 9370 175000 Extra WEST MIDLANDS DUDLEY

EVESHAM WORCESTER RD 8390 273330 Superstore WORCESTERSHIRE EVESHAM

STRATFORD UPON AVON 8060 244260 Superstore WARWICKSHIRE STRATFORD-ON-AVON

COVENTRY WALSGRAVE 7830 174430 Superstore WEST MIDLANDS COVENTRY

WILLENHALL 6800 102200 Superstore WEST MIDLANDS WILLENHALL

HALL GREEN 6660 125640 Superstore WEST MIDLANDS SOLIHULL

CANNOCK 6310 153800 Superstore STAFFORDSHIRE CANNOCK

KIDDERMINSTER 6300 146360 Superstore WORCESTERSHIRE KIDDERMINSTER

HEREFORD 2 6210 188670 Superstore HEREFORDSHIRE HEREFORD

• Focus groups identified four key barriers to healthy eating amongst our target group cost (healthy foods were widely perceived as more expensive) time (in buying ingredients and preparing healthy meals) lack of cooking skills (fuelled by habitual purchase of convenience

foods) and perceived lack of taste of healthy options

“Putting a meal together is sometimes hard – with a burger it’s really easy, you know it goes with chips and peas or beans, but when you have a bunch of vegetables in front of you, you might not know what to do with it, so meal cards would be helpful… free, everyday cooking and within a budget as well – healthy and cheap because you are more likely to use all the ingredients”

“I don’t buy much healthy food because the kids won’t eat it, so why should I buy it if I end up throwing it away.... I have had 3 kids screaming at me all day so mealtimes I want to be peaceful, so I give them what they want”

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Obesity Project – Key findings (Phase 1b)

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Obesity Project – Key findings (Phase 1c)

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Statement Mean Score

(Target Group) Mean Score

(Control Group) “The problem with ‘healthy’ foods is that they tend to be…

… boring” … tasteless” … more expensive than ‘unhealthy’ foods” … more time-consuming to prepare than ‘unhealthy’ foods” … more difficult to cook than ‘unhealthy’ foods … less appealing to children than ‘unhealthy’ foods

2.4* 2.3* 4.0* 2.7

2.6* 2.7

2.0* 1.9* 2.9* 2.5

2.1* 2.5

“The problem with ‘healthy’ foods is that my family won’t eat them so there is a lot of waste”

2.6* 2.0*

“I would like to eat more ‘healthy’ foods but find it really difficult” 3.0* 2.3* 1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=neither agree nor disagree, 4=agree, 5=strongly agree *=statistically significant different at 5% level

• Survey results supported the focus group findings regarding attitudes and perceptions

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Obesity Project – Key findings (Phase 1c)

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• Survey results highlighted the dominant role of price – information alone is unlikely to change behaviour

Statement Mean Score

(Target Group) Mean Score

(Control Group) Supermarkets positioned ‘healthy’ foods more prominently on their shelves Manufacturers made the packaging of ‘healthy’ foods more attractive Supermarkets offered discounts on ‘healthy’ foods Supermarkets ran in-store cooking demonstrations with ‘healthy’ ingredients Supermarkets provided recipe ideas for ‘healthy’ meals The government introduced a tax on ‘unhealthy’ foods

3.1*

3.1* 6.1* 3.7

3.8* 5.1*

4.1*

3.7* 5.2* 3.9

4.6* 4.3*

1=not all likely, 7=extremely likely *=statistically significant different at 5% level

• Intervention focussed on the preparation of simple, quick and tasty family meals using a limited number of healthy ingredients.

• Intervention designed to overcome the perceived barriers to healthy eating in two ways:

changing attitudes - raising awareness about healthy eating and increasing knowledge/skills with respect to the preparation of healthy meals

creating an enabling environment – making it easy to ‘purchase’ a small number of healthy ingredients for a tasty family meal

Obesity Project – Intervention (Phase 2)

Slide 26 KBS Research Seminar, December 15th, 2010

Obesity Project – Intervention (Phase 2)

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Recipes = Simple, Quick, Tasty, Healthy, Inexpensive Sausage & Bean Casserole Tuna & Pasta Bake Easy Chilli Vegetable Stew

• Four weekly cooking demonstrations outside the focal store (Tesco Coventry Ricoh Arena)

Obesity Project – Intervention (Phase 2)

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People recruited from survey respondents, focus group participants and local agencies (e.g. Groundwork)

Offered free ingredients along with written cooking instructions, to enable them to try the dishes at home

• Focus on three elements:

attitudes and perceptions (individual)• Semi-structured interviews one week after each demonstration • Photo diaries (disposable cameras issued with each set of

ingredients)

food purchasing behavior (community)• actual sales of the ingredients used in the cooking demonstrations

at the Ricoh Arena store

lifestyle and health (individual)• follow up interviews 6 months after the intervention

Obesity Project – Evaluation

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• Claire – week 4

“I enjoyed it because it was a cheap affordable meal”

“As a child I wasn’t given vegetables, so I didn’t try them, and I’ve now got the strength to try these vegetables, and I’ve now realised that I like turnip too”

“I think children these days have a got a lot of changes in store, we’ve been giving them all these fast foods for too long now. And even myself, and I know with a busy lifestyle it was quite easy just to go to the chip shop and takeaway and McDonalds, its all on your doorstep now people are delivering, and now the fun in the kitchen starts, and I’ve got all the stuff there, I’ve got the food processor, I’ve got the food blender, I’ve got everything there but I never use it. They were ornaments in my kitchen, but not anymore! Now I actually use them”

Obesity Project – Evaluation

(attitudes and perceptions)

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• Anuradah – week 4

“It’s really nice and what I really like about the food here, is that he uses a small amount of spices and there is no oil and it’s so healthy for that. I was surprised cos I didn’t use even a single drop of oil, and I was so impressed by the food because it tastes (so good)… because we have a notion that when we fry something if you don’t add oil to something then it doesn’t taste much. But when I made my vegetable stew and I made my husband eat it, and both of us was so surprised because nobody can make out that we have not used oil... I said to my husband look at this dish, I have never made a dish before without a single drop of oil that tastes so good” 

Obesity Project – Evaluation

(attitudes and perceptions)

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Obesity Project – Evaluation (food purchasing behaviour)

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Source: dunnhumby (2010)

Casserole Sales by stores Customers Units soldCustomer

PenetrationSpend per Customer

Pre COVENTRY ARENA EXTRA 4250 8040 9.85% £0.72

% Change During vs Pre COVENTRY ARENA EXTRA 5.64% 5.59% 4.63% 5.20%

% Change Post vs Pre COVENTRY ARENA EXTRA 3.53% 2.36% -0.22% -1.51%

Pre ALL MIDLANDS STORES 219070 379300 12.16% £0.66

% Change During vs Pre ALL MIDLANDS STORES 8.26% 7.05% 6.60% 2.86%

% Change Post vs Pre ALL MIDLANDS STORES 6.44% 4.79% 3.36% 2.42%

Casserole Stores Selling Customers Units soldCustomer

PenetrationSpend per Customer

Pre COVENTRY ARENA EXTRA 810 1030 8.17% £0.72

% Change During vs Pre COVENTRY ARENA EXTRA -22.22% -20.29% -26.10% 5.20%

% Change Post vs Pre COVENTRY ARENA EXTRA -7.41% -4.90% -13.60% -1.51%

Pre ALL MIDLANDS STORES 28790 38390 9.17% £0.66

% Change During vs Pre ALL MIDLANDS STORES -1.95% -1.43% -3.15% 2.86%

% Change Post vs Pre ALL MIDLANDS STORES -2.29% -0.16% -2.41% 2.42%

All Shoppers

Target Group

Conclusions

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4. Conclusions

• Interest in and application of social marketing is increasing in response to the growing need for behaviour change on a grand scale

• Changing behaviour is difficult, multi-faceted and takes time

• Evaluation of interventions (impact on behaviour) is critical given scarcity of resources and need to protect vulnerable groups

• We still have much to learn about what to do and how to do it!

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Thank you!

• Keep in touch with us…

Website: http://www.kent.ac.uk/cvcr Blog: http://blogs.kent.ac.uk/value-chain-thinking Follow us on Twitter: @valuechains

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