title: Change of behaviour when selecting food products in a supermarket environment after reminding consumers about weight management.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim was to explore how the behaviour of consumers changed while they selected food in a supermarket environment after they were reminded about weight management. This investigation was carried out from the perspective of selection criteria, reading of package labels, nutritional quality of the products selected and time taken to select a product.
  
  
  METHODS
  The subjects, who were actively watching their weight, participated in two consecutive tasks in a supermarket. They were given a shopping list of eleven food categories and asked to think aloud while selecting from each category a product they usually buy and a product they would use for weight management. The data (n 792 selections) were collected through interviews and a verbal analysis protocol combined with wireless audio-visual observation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-six consumers were recruited from a sample of 367 supermarket customers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Kuopio, Finland.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The subjects' behaviour changed radically after they were reminded about weight management. In the first selection, taste and familiarity were the main food selection criteria while in the latter selection the energy/fat content predominated. Consequently, the nutritional quality of products improved greatly because subjects read package labels twice as much in the latter selection. The time taken to select a product increased significantly, on average, from 23 (sd 10) to 60 (sd 51) s/product (P = 0·000).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Only by reminding consumers about weight management was there a significant impact on their food selection behaviour. Marketing communication should be developed which quickly and easily promotes consumers' awareness of healthy food in supermarkets.
authors: Faculty of Business, Tourism and Culture, Savonia University of Applied Sciences, Microkatu 1S, FI-70201 Kuopio, Finland.
authors: Anna-Maria
authors: AM
authors: Saarela
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001835:Body Weight; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003132:Commerce; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D005515:Food Labeling; D005518:Food Preferences; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D057226:Information Seeking Behavior; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008875:Middle Aged; D009753:Nutritive Value; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019370:Observation