Milan BExpo 2015; A behavioural study on food choices and (PDF)

Specific Contract n° 2014 85 09 Written by: Dr. Millie Elsen (CentERdata) Dr. Roxanne van Giesen (CentERdata) Dr. Jorna Leenheer (CentERdata) Date: 12 October 2015 Justice and Consumers Milan BExpo 2015: A behavioural study on food choices and eating habits Final report  2 EUROPEAN COMMISSION Produced by Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency (Chafea) on behalf of Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers Directorate E — Consumers Unit E.1 (Consumer Markets) European Commission B-1049 Brussels  EUROPEAN COMMISSION Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers EU Consumer Programme 2015 Milan BExpo 2015: A behavioural study on food choices and eating habits Final report  4 This report was produced under the EU Consumer Programme (2014-2020) in the frame of a service contract with the Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency (Chafea) acting under the mandate from the European Commission. The content of this report represents the views of the contractor and is its sole responsibility; it can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Commission and/or Chafea or other body of the European Union. The European Commission and/or Chafea do not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this report, nor do they accept responsibility for any use made by third parties thereof. More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://europa.eu). Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2015 PDF ISBN 978-92-79-44120-2 doi: 10.2838/537411 DS-04-15-693-EN-N © European Union, 2015 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the European Union. Freephone number (*): 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (*) The information given is free, as are most calls (though some operators, phone boxes or hotels may charge you).  Milan BExpo 2015: A behavioural study on food choices and eating habits 5 TABLE OF CONTENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................... 7 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 9 2 FIELD STUDY .......................................................................................................10 2.1 Background ................................................................................................10 2.2 Key results .................................................................................................12 2.3 Conclusions and suggestions for future research .............................................14 3 LAB EXPERIMENT 1: DATE MARKING ......................................................................17 3.1 Background ................................................................................................17 3.2 Key results .................................................................................................18 3.3 Conclusions and suggestions for future research on date marking .....................23 4 LAB EXPERIMENT 2: IMPERFECT FRUITS & VEGETABLES ...........................................25 4.1 Background ................................................................................................25 4.2 Key results .................................................................................................26 4.3 Conclusions and suggestions for future research on imperfect foods and vegetables..................................................................................................31 APPENDIX 1: BACKGROUND INFORMATION ....................................................................33 Lab study date marks ...........................................................................................33 Lab study imperfect foods......................................................................................33 APPENDIX II: EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP AND SAMPLE SIZE..................................................37 Field study...........................................................................................................37 Lab study imperfect foods......................................................................................43 APPENDIX III: QUESTIONNAIRES FIELD STUDY...............................................................45 APPENDIX IV: QUESTIONNAIRES LAB STUDIES ...............................................................62 APPENDIX V: STATISTICAL AND TECHNICAL APPENDIX....................................................75 Statistical and technical information field study ........................................................75 Statistical and technical information lab study date marks .........................................84 Statistical and technical information lab study imperfect foods ...................................93 Statistical and technical information post-questionnaire.............................................99 APPENDIX VI: STAKEHOLDERS’ EVENT .........................................................................101 APPENDIX V: REFERENCES .........................................................................................102   7 Executive summary This behavioural study examined consumer choices in relation to food sustainability, and was carried out at the Milan Expo 2015 among EXPO visitors, by CentERdata, GFK, and Ecorys. This project examined two aspects related to consumer sustainability: consumer use of sustainability information and food waste. Consumer use of sustainability information Consumer use of sustainability information was studied by means of an experimental field study carried out in the COOP Supermarket of the Future. In this supermarket consumers could look up product information through interactive displays, on for instance price, nutritional values and several sustainability aspects of the product. The main aim was to investigate whether exposure to sustainability-related information in an innovative, interactive way translates into more sustainable product choices. In addition, we investigated if sustainable activation in one domain (non-food) spills over to another domain (food). In the study 300 consumers participated. One group of consumers received a sustainability pre-task after which they visited the Supermarket of the Future (group 1), one group of consumers visited the Supermarket of the Future without a pre- task (group 2), and a control group consisted of Milan Expo visitors who did neither visit the Supermarket of the Future nor received the sustainability pre-task (group 3). The study reveals the following key insights:  The Supermarket of the Future seems a promising concept with several innovative features that have the potential to enhance sustainable consumer behaviour. The atypical setting makes generalizability of results difficult, though. For example, many supermarket visitors did not make any purchase and customers mainly bought drinks.  That being said, when consumers are activated to process sustainability information before entering the supermarket, this seems to enhance their interest in the innovative shopping concept even if the activation is not food related. But strong evidence that the increased interest translates into more sustainable consumer choices in the Supermarket is lacking.  Consumers consider price and nutritional values, rather than sustainability, the most important attributes to gather information on. Consumers pay equal attendance to the different indicators related to sustainable information (carbon foot print, sustainability logos, organic logos). Results may be driven by informational sequence as price and nutritional information were presented before the sustainability information at the informational screens. Information overload may also play a role.  Store visitors have stronger intentions to pay attention to sustainability information in the future than non-visitors. Participants in the study are allowed to donate to good causes as a reward; interestingly, store visitors donate more to sustainable charities than non-store visitors do. As such, the store visit seems to act as a sustainability activator. Food Waste: Date marks The issue of food waste was investigated by means of two experimental lab studies carried out at the EXPO; 500 Milan EXPO visitors participated in the two studies. The main aim of the first lab study was to investigate consumers’ decision to use or dispose non-perishable (long shelf-life) foods and how this was affected by date marking: the presence of a best before date, a production date or absence of any date on the food package. The perception of product quality, safety and likelihood of disposal were measured at various time points. This experimental approach provides unique insights into how consumers treat products with different date marks that deviate from current market practices, by manipulating the type of date mark while keeping the rest constant. The most important results are as follows:  Milan BExpo 2015: A behavioural study on food choices and eating habits 8  Understanding of the best before date (BBD) can be improved, only 47% of consumers participating in the experiments indicated the meaning of the best before date correctly whereas consumers are often not aware of this ignorance. This is in line with other studies (see for instance results from the United Kingdom - WRAP, 2014).  Whether it is preferable, from a food waste prevention point of view, for a food product to be labelled with a BBD date or not, depends very much on how long consumers store products at home prior to using them. Before the BBD has been reached it seems better to have a BBD on products (less disposal; higher perceived product quality and safety perceptions) than no date or a production date. However, for the time points after the BBD is reached, consumers are less likely to throw out a food product if there is no date indicated on the label i.e. no reference point such as the BBD or production date. This pattern is even more pronounced for products with a long perceived shelf-life by consumers.  Overall, consumers are more likely to dispose a product across all time points when a production date is provided compared to no date at all. Providing a production date is less effective (products with long shelf-life) or equally effective (products with short shelf-life) compared to no date mark. Food Waste: imperfect foods The main aim of the second experimental lab study was to investigate how to increase consumer acceptance of imperfect (strangely shaped) foods with effective communications. We investigated whether persuasive messages can be used as an alternative to diminish the need for price reductions on imperfect fruits and vegetables. More specifically we analysed the effectiveness of an authenticity message (stressing that the food is "naturally" imperfect) or an anti-food waste message, in combination with: no price reduction, a moderate price reduction (15%) and a sharp price reduction (30%) (2x3 design). The results are as follows:  Price reductions lead to higher willingness to buy imperfect foods. If no price reduction was provided 74% of consumers would buy the perfect foods while only 26% prefer the imperfect ones. With a moderate price reduction 31% of people would buy the imperfect foods and with a sharp price reduction 39%.  Providing persuasive messages increases the willingness to buy imperfect foods more strongly. If an anti-food waste message or authenticity message was provided, more respondents (41% and 42%) would buy imperfect foods, but at normal prices and thus preventing a drop in retailers’ revenues.  Price reductions in combination with persuasive message frames are most effective: - If an anti-food waste message was provided, more respondents would buy the imperfect foods with a moderate price reduction (51%) and a sharp price reduction (51%). - If an authenticity message was provided, more respondents would buy the imperfect foods with a moderate price reduction (40%), and a sharp price reduction (50%).  Authenticity messages increase quality perceptions and decrease the necessity of price reductions of imperfect foods.  9 1 Introduction For the Milan Expo 2015, an exploratory research project in the area of food on consumer choices and food sustainability has been carried out on behalf of the European Commission. The research consists of a field study in the Supermarket of the future and two lab studies (experiments) on food waste carried out among Expo visitors. This report provides background information on each of the studies, and presents the key results and conclusions and suggestion for future research for each of the studies. The current study could be considered as a contribution to the growing body of behavioural studies conducted for policy purposes. These behavioural studies shine light on behavioural aspects and reactions of consumers to policy interventions from a real life (either lab or field) perspective. The three studies address two different sub areas. The field study regards consumers’ use of interactive sustainability information and its effect on consumer behaviour. The experimental shopping concept “Supermarket of the future” as built on the EXPO has been used for a field experimental study on this topic. Both lab studies address the issue of food waste. One experiment studies the topic of consumers’ disposal of food, and investigates the influence of date marks on consumer use or disposal of food. The other experiment researches how imperfect fruits and vegetables could successfully be marketed, so that consumers are willing to purchase them. Chapter 2 reports the background, key results and conclusions for the field study, Chapter 3 for the lab study on date marking, and Chapter 4 for the lab study on imperfect foods. The report is followed by several appendices which contain background information relevant for the studies, the experimental set-up and sample size, the questionnaires, a statistical and technical appendix providing more details on the analyses of the different studies, and the reference list.  10 2 Field study 2.1 Background The COOP Supermarket of the Future is a large supermarket based at the Milan Expo, with many different product categories and Stock Keeping Units. A unique feature of this supermarket is that consumers can, by pointing at a product, request more background information about the product to be depicted on interactive screens (see pictures). For each product information is available on seven aspects: (1) price information, (2) the history of the product, (3) the origin of raw materials used, (4) nutritional values, (5) allergy information, (6) environmental information and the carbon footprint, (7) organic and sustainability logos. Sustainability information can thus be derived from the origin of raw materials, the carbon footprint and the organic and sustainability logos1. The aim of the field study is to investigate if and how the information displayed on the interactive screens is being used in consumer decision-making, and – more specifically – whether exposure to sustainability-related information in an innovative, interactive way translates into more sustainable food choices. Though sustainability is a difficult concept to consumers, in general they consider sustainability “a good thing” and have positive attitudes towards it (Grunert, 2011). But for sustainability information to impact consumer behaviour, the information (1) should be noticed and processed, (2) accurately interpreted and understood, and (3) considered sufficiently important (relative to other product features). In order to gain deeper insight into how exposure to sustainability information affects consumers’ choices, this study surveys visitors of the Supermarket of the Future, to observe to what extent they attended sustainability information in the supermarket, considered sustainability an important factor in their food choices, and whether this impacts their current and future sustainability choices. In order to draw valid conclusions, we compared responses of store visitors (group 2, see figure 2.1) with EXPO visitors who did not visit the supermarket of the future (control group, group 3). Furthermore, it is often discussed that sustainable initiatives should not be considered on their own, as sustainable incentives in one domain are likely to spill-over to other domains (Thøgersen & Crompton, 2009). This could imply that enhancing sustainable consumption is a matter of many small steps adding up to a sustainable all-round consumer in the end. Previous results on spill-over effects are mixed, sometimes showing positive spill-overs, sometimes showing negative spill-overs (i.e. “licensing effects”, where an act of pro-environmental behaviour is used by consumers to justify not carrying out other pro-environmental activities (Mazar & Zhong, 2010), or no effects at all. In order to investigate if sustainable actions in a non-food domain spill over to the food domain, some of the store visitors were exposed to a sustainable pre-task prior to their visit to the Supermarket of the Future (group 3 in Figure 2.1). This sustainability pre-task 1 It should be noted however that the sustainability concept is much broader than these specific information units.  Milan BExpo 2015: A behavioural study on food choices and eating habits 11 consists of having to select the most sustainable product from product sets from different non-food product categories. In addition, consumers judged whether a possible action enhances sustainability. We investigate whether this group is more receptive to food sustainability information in the supermarket and make more sustainable choices accordingly as compared to the group that did not take the pre-task (group 3 versus group 2). In sum we expect that:  Consumers who visited the supermarket (group 1 and 2) (1) find sustainability information more important, (2) and are more likely to use this information in future food choices, (3) have higher intentions to make sustainable food choices in the future, and (4) donate more to charities related to food sustainability, compared to non-visitors (group 3);  Store visitors with a sustainability pre-task (group 1) (1) pay more attention to sustainability information, (2) find this information more important, (3) are more likely to use this information in future food choices, (4) have higher intentions to make sustainable food choices, and (5) donate more to charities related to food sustainability, compared to store visitors who did not make the pre-task (group 2) (positive spill-over effect). Figure 2.1 Overview of the study design In total 303 Milan Expo visitors participated in the study (about 100 per group).The sustainability behaviour activation took place next to the entrance of the COOP Supermarket of the Future (group 1), whereas the post-visit questionnaire for supermarket visitors was conducted right at the exit of the supermarket (groups 1 and 2). Data collection for the non-visitors (group 3) took place at a different location at the Milan Expo, outside the Future Food District area. The sustainability activation task turned out to be sufficiently challenging for consumers, as only 6 (out of 100) consumers performed very well, whereas many (41) made only a few correct choices. Respondents across all experimental groups indicated that they were relatively pro-environmental in their purchases and choices during the past year (traveling, leisure, household products, and food products)2 (all means > 5.12 on a 7-point scale). In addition, they consider themselves as having a very pro-environmental self-identity (M = 5.40 on a 7-point scale). 2 These four items were added and averaged and formed a reliable construct (α =.90).  Milan BExpo 2015: A behavioural study on food choices and eating habits 12 0 10 20 30 40 50 pre visit + post visit (group 1) post visit coop (group 2) Frequency Number of products for which information is checked Zero 1 or 2 3-5 6-10 11-15 More than 15 0 20 40 60 pre visit + post visit (group 1) post visit coop (group 2) Frequency Length of visit < 5minutes 5-9 minutes 10-15 minutes 16-30 minutes Longer than 30 minutes 2.2 Key results 2.2.1 Consumers’ visit and purchasing at the Supermarket of the Future Most consumers stayed in the Supermarket for the future for less than 15 minutes, which is shorter than for a typical supermarket. Both the average length of visit and total number of products for which information are checked is higher for those consumers that took a sustainable pre-task (group 1) than for store-visitors who did not (group 2) (see figure 2.2 & 2.3). This suggests that the sustainability pre-task has activated consumers’ interest in the store concept. Most consumers did not make any purchase while visiting the supermarket (66%) and those who did mostly bought drinks only (46%).This again illustrates that the Supermarket of the Future is an atypical supermarket, as in normal supermarkets the conversion rate is close to 100% (almost all visitors that visit a store make a purchase). However, the conversion rate for visitors who were exposed to a sustainability pre-task (group 1) is higher (34%) than for store visitors who were not (23%, group 2). Furthermore, visitors with a sustainability pre-task bought 46 products in total and store visitors bought 25 products in total. Figure 2.2 and Figure 2.3 Length of visit in the Supermarket of the Future and number of products for which information is checked in the Supermarket of the Future 2.2.2 Consumers’ attention and importance of product information and impact on future choices Participants were asked to what extent they paid attention to the different information components (price, nutritional values, and origin of raw materials, carbon footprint, sustainability logos, and organic logos) and whether they used the perceived information to base their current and future purchase decisions on. Store visitors paid more attention to the price, nutritional values and origin of raw materials than to the sustainability information components, see figure 2.43. In the same vein, price, nutritional values and origin of raw materials are considered more important to consumers than sustainability (figure 2.5). Visitors with and without a sustainability pre-task neither differ regarding the amount of attention paid to sustainability information, nor differ regarding the importance of sustainability information in purchase decisions. As such, it seems that asking consumers to make sustainable food choices in non-food domains does not positively spill-over to the food domain. In addition, there are no differences between 3 This concerns all store visitors as there were no differences across groups.  Milan BExpo 2015: A behavioural study on food choices and eating habits 13 3 4 5 6 Attention To what extent consumers paid attention to information components price nutritional values origin raw materials carbon footprint sustainability logos organic logos 3 4 5 6 Importance The extent to which different information components are considered important price nutritional values origin raw materials carbon footprint sustainability logos organic logos 3 4 5 6 Likelihood to take into account for future purchases The extent to which different information is taken into account in future purchases price nutritional values origin raw materials carbon footprint sustainability logos organic logos store visitors versus non-visitors, which indicates that the Supermarket of the Future itself did not induce heightened attention and importance attached to sustainability cues, also in relation to future food choices. Figure 2.4 & Figure 2.5 The extent to which consumers paid attention to different information components and consider this important Despite the fact that the supermarket did not enhance sustainability of consumers’ current food choices, sustainability information may gain importance in their future decisions. That is, consumers intent to put relatively more weight to sustainability information compared to the other informational attributes (price, nutritional value, original raw materials) in the future, see figure 2.6. In addition, store visitors have stronger intentions to take environmental concerns into account in future shopping than non-visitors, see figure 2.7. It seems that the supermarket triggers consumers to think about environmental concerns which induces future spill-over effects in the food domain, more so than asking consumers to make sustainable choices in non-food domains. Figure 2.6 & Figure 2.7 The extent to which different information components are taken into account in future food purchases and behavioural intentions to take environmental concerns into account 3 4 5 6 Intentions Behavioral intentions to take environmental concerns into account pre- and post visit (group 1) post visit (group 2) no-visit (group 3)  Milan BExpo 2015: A behavioural study on food choices and eating habits 14 2.2.3 Supermarket of the Future and Charity donation behaviour As a reward for their participation, consumers could donate to a charity of their choice with three options available: one charity related to sustainability in the food domain (Fairfood), one charity pursuing sustainability in general (One Acre), and one charity outside the sustainability domain (Age international). It turns out that supermarket visitors (group 1 and 2) donate more to sustainable charities than non-visitors (group 3). That is, non-visitors spread their donation more equally over all three charities, see figure 2.8. Figure 2.8 Average amount of money donated per charity 2.3 Conclusions and suggestions for future research  The Supermarket of the Future seems a promising concept with several innovative features that have the potential to enhance sustainable consumer choices. On the other hand, the atypical setting of the World EXPO makes it difficult to draw generalizable conclusions on effectiveness. First of all, most consumers make only short-lasting visits at the EXPO-supermarket, a high percentage of visitors do not make any purchase and those who do buy a limited number of items, mostly drinks. Purchases in the Supermarket of the Future do not represent typical purchases, mostly because the context differs and is leisure related. Second, the Supermarket of the Future is different from a typical supermarket on very many aspects, which makes it difficult to disentangle the effects of each of them. Moreover, the high technical complexity of the Supermarket of the Future requires much cognitive processing from consumers, which may make them fall back on simple heuristics. Under such circumstances many changes in technical complexity at once may in fact be less effective than only a few minor changes at a time;  When consumers are activated to think of sustainability before store entrance (even if this is unrelated to food), this seems to enhance interest in the innovative shopping concept. However no strong evidence exists that this translates to consumer attention and choice to more sustainable alternatives (the spill-over effect from sustainable choices in a different domain to sustainable behaviour in the food domain). Below we elaborate on the finding that consumers were acting less pro-sustainable than may be expected or hoped for: 1) Consumers pay more attention to price and nutritional values than to sustainability information. The sustainable information dimensions (such as carbon footprint and logos) do not differ from each other in attention paid and importance. These results may partly be caused by information sequence, as price, nutritional values and origin of raw materials were always presented first on the interactive screens. Consumers probably only € - € 0,50 € 1,00 € 1,50 € 2,00 € 2,50 € 3,00 Fairfood One acre fund Age international Euros Sustainability charities Amount donated per charity pre visit + post visit (group 1) post-visit (group 2) no visit (group 3) Other charity  Milan BExpo 2015: A behavioural study on food choices and eating habits 15 watch the first part of information displayed on the interactive screens when they look up product information. Moreover, previous research has also shown that in the food domain, choices seem to be more often influenced and prioritized by how healthy the products are than how important food choices are for the environment (Kriflik & Yeatman, 2005; Lang & Rayner, 2003). In addition, price always plays a key role, such that higher prices are often an obstacle for consumers to consume more sustainable foods (O’Donovan & McCarthy, 2002); 2) Pro-environmental self-identity seems to be biased as practically all consumers indicate that they are very pro-environmental. This seems to be the result of a strong social desirability response. We find a discrepancy in self-reported pro-environmental behaviour and actual sustainable choices made in the pre-visit questionnaire. Within the group of visitors with a sustainability pre-task, only a small group indeed accurately choose the sustainable options (6 out of 100). Taken together, our results show only weak evidence for a spill-over effect from other sustainability domains to the food domain. However, in the donation task we see that people who were asked to make sustainable choices in the non-food domain also donated more money to general sustainability charities, which provides evidence that the sustainability mindset was induced as desired.  Though there is limited evidence that the supermarket visit itself strongly induces towards sustainable purchases at the Supermarket of the Future, we find evidence of positive spill-over effects. That is, visitors report stronger intentions to take environmental concerns into account in future food choices than non-visitors do (group 1 & 2 vs. group 3).This indicates that the Supermarket of the Future triggers consumers to think about environmental concerns, as such the supermarket could be considered as sustainability behaviour activation itself. This conclusion was underlined by the finding that consumers who visited the Supermarket of the Future on average donate more money to sustainable charities compared to consumers who did not visit the supermarket. Despite the potential and opportunities that such an innovative supermarket brings to consumers, it also created in an atypical setting which at the same time was technologically challenging for consumers. For instance, consumers did not always understand that they needed to point at the product, so instead they placed the product in front of the interactive screen waiting for the information to come. Also, out of convenience, consumers looked at the products as they would normally do, instead of using the interactive screens. This also happened when consumers started comparing products. Consumers have limited capacity to process all information available to them. If too much information is provided consumers rely on heuristics and simply do not process all available information (Malhotra, 1982). Consumers for instance focus on the first information presented. In future research it could be helpful to make a hierarchy in information that is available to consumers on information displays. For instance, it could be helpful to consumers if they could select the type of information where they are most interested in, so that they could directly compare this information across different products. This also makes it easier for consumers to remember the information. This is in line with research showing that the way consumers encounter information has a substantial impact on the way this information is evaluated and integrated (Ariely, 2000). Specifically, interactive communication that gives consumers control over the content, order, and duration of product‐relevant information causes information to have higher value and to become increasingly usable over time (Ariely, 2000). For future research it would be important to systematically change the information order that is presented on the interactive screens. When a number of information components is presented about a product, usually consumers pay most attention to the information