Unchain for Health

May our customers live long and prosper! Prosper so they’ll have money each week to spend with us. Live long so they’ll have many weeks ahead.
     For them to live long, let’s keep them healthy. Giving them a sense of control helps, such as when they’re eating.
     Researchers at University of Chicago used one of three instruction sets with study participants. The first group was told their task was to sample all of a food item described to them as “healthy.” The second group was told their task was to sample all of a food item described as “tasty.” The third group was told to choose whether they’d like to sample all of a healthy food or a tasty food and then given the sample to eat.
     The thing is, all the samples were actually the same food item. The only difference was in the description.
     After sampling the food, each person was asked how hungry they were.

• The people who had been told to eat the “healthy” food rated themselves as hungrier afterwards than did the people who had been told to eat the “tasty” food. This wasn’t surprising. Lots of consumer psychology research has found that people rate “healthy” food as less satisfying than “tasty” food, even when the two items are objectively indistinguishable.
• But now the twist: For the group allowed to choose whether they wanted a healthy or tasty item and then given the item (the same item regardless of which they said), there were no significant differences between the hunger reports from those who requested the healthy and those who requested the tasty item. The sense of being in control led to gastronomical satisfaction.

     All the participants in the Chicago study were adults, and the message is that when we unchain adults to give them a sense of control, they are more likely to be satisfied with healthy choices.
     The same principle holds for younger consumers. Because of justified concerns about childhood obesity, there are well-intentioned initiatives to limit what foods are available to children at home and in school cafeterias. I support this. Restrict the choices. But these initiatives are most likely to succeed when the children find themselves able to have as much choice as possible. Even choices as to what color plate they use and where they are able to sit can help.

For your profitability: Sell Well: What Really Moves Your Shoppers

Click below for more:
Ease the Guilt for Adult Unhealthy Eaters
Give Shoppers Variety for Control
Let Your Shoppers Enjoy Being Influenced