Do beliefs about healthy food inform consumer choices?

A group of executives from a health food company hope to develop and market new pre-cooked healthy dinner packages that contain whole foods and are minimally processed. Because they are unsure of market demands, they prepare at great length for a large focus group at their headquarters. To gather the most information possible, they contact equal numbers of nutrition experts, specialty grocers, individuals who are beginning a dietary change and individuals who are considering a dietary change and invite them to participate. They prepare a series of questions and talking points and have their research staff present them to the group. During the meeting, they quickly find the following:

● $95\mathrm{\%}$‍ of participants believe that it is important to eat healthy foods that are minimally processed and are made up of easy to pronounce ingredients

● $10\mathrm{\%}$‍ of participants choose these types of food on a daily basis.

● $15\mathrm{\%}$‍ of participants would purchase a pre-made health product

The executives are perplexed and want to determine why participants are unwilling to purchase a pre-made health product. They conduct additional focus groups and find that the participants continue to purchase and consume empty calorie foods, despite knowing that they do not promote health. When asked why they do this, participants stated:

● “Empty calorie foods taste good so they are worth eating.”

● “The chances of developing an illness or health problem are not high, so I will continue to eat in the way that I currently eat.”

● “Empty calorie foods are less expensive and do not spoil as quickly as whole, minimally processed foods.”

The executives realize that there is a large discrepancy between what the participants believe in regards to nutrition and how they actually behave. They decide to focus their strategies on helping individuals to behave in ways that are more consistent with their beliefs.