Commentary

Seduced by a label

Supermarkets and food manufacturers are masters in manipulating our buying patterns. Can and do they want to seduce us into a healthier and more sustainable pattern of consumption? Arjen van Lin analyzes the effect of labels, nutritional values, and large price discounts on what we put in our shopping carts.

Text by Sebastiaan van de Water

Ayoung woman in a waisted jacket stands in front of a bin full of blue plastic packets. Her pursed lips betray doubt. The contents of these shiny bags have little to do with the ideal of sustainable wholefoods. Yet here is an opportunity that cannot be missed, according to a white-and-orange sign with the image of a rodent. These are the “hamster weeks”. And so, at this Albert Heijn XL supermarket in Tilburg, Unox instant noodles are “buy one get one free”.

These kinds of large price discounts are an important weapon for Albert Heijn, as Arjen van Lin, Assistant Professor of Marketing at Tilburg University, knows. “Albert Heijn is not an EDLP supermarket. So, they don’t have ‘everyday low prices’, but rather, they use the hi-lo format. They attract customers with extreme discount promotions, hoping that they will also fill their shopping carts with more expensive items.”

But Albert Heijn’s tactics are under attack. “The British government has asked supermarket chains to stop all buy-oneget-one-free promotions,” says Van Lin. “The fear is that people will be tempted to buy more than they can eat, after which they throw out the remains.”

But is this assumption correct? Van Lin and his fellow researchers have analyzed the buying and throwing-out behavior of households. “Our data suggest that people

“Why do people buy what they buy? This question is still at the heart of my research”

BRAM BELLONI

seem to be more aware of products purchased during promotions. For example, they are quicker to freeze the items.”

So, super discounts do not make us any more wasteful. Still, the young woman is not yet convinced. She takes up one of the blue packets in her hands and squints. Hidden behind the flap are the ingredients, printed in small letters. If it had had ‘made in Chernobyl’ on it, she could not have thrown the packet back into the white bit faster than she does now. Resolutely, she walks away from the pile of dehydrated dough with palm fat, sugar, and salt.

If only everyone shopped that conscientiously. Politicians would like nothing more, in view of rising healthcare costs. That is why more and more traces of (government) campaigns to make us consume more healthily are becoming visible in supermarkets. But are these initiatives going to work?

If anyone can answer that, it is Van Lin. His blond hair reached his shoulders when

“The number one factor, especially for low-educated classes, is still the price”

On the shelf, the Nutri-Score letters hardly stand out between the hundreds of jars full of logos and labels. BRAM BELLONI

he started an after-school job at C1000 as a fifteen-year-old student. Stocking milk cartons, he worked his way up to shift manager of a team of shelf stockers in more than seven years. In the meantime, he completed his secondary education and a degree in marketing in Tilburg. “I became interested in the question: why do people buy what they buy? That issue is still at the heart of my research.”

Healthy letters With Van Lin as your guide, a visit to a supermarket feels like wearing the truth goggles from the science fiction film They Live. He explicitly shows you things that normally only affect you subliminally. “Look, this is interesting,” says the assistant professor, pointing to a detail on a jar of HAK apple sauce. “We’re going to see this much more often in the future: the Nutri-Score. One value, from A to E, to represent the health value. The Dutch government wants to put a lot of effort into this and has already involved several companies. The score on this jar is remarkable, by the way.” The packaging shows a green box with an A. A jar of red cabbage with apple gets a B. Lower scores are nowhere to be found. Coincidence? “Due to European rules, Nutri-Scores are not mandatory. Companies are allowed to decide for themselves whether they put a D or E on the packaging.” Will the Dutch consume more healthily as a result? Van Lin pulls the same face as the woman did earlier at the bin of noodles. He is familiar with the studies that “prove” that people react positively to the new labels. “Yes, when they choose between two jars in a lab setting. But on the shelf, surrounded by hundreds of jars full of logos and labels, these letters hardly stand out. This will probably not be enough to help lower educated segments of the population in particular to consume differently.”

Stop sign Van Lin knows of better solutions. “People are more sensitive to negative information. In Chile, they cleverly responded to this fact. There, all products with excessive sugar, salt or fat have a black warning label on them in the shape of a stop sign. Our research shows that this can be effective, depending on the product category. Come on, I’ll show you something.”

Van Lin walks straight to the path of munchable products and grabs a bag of

24 | New Scientist | Tilburg University Economics and Management | Research Special Lay’s chips from the shelf. “Look at the bottom left.” There are four numbers: the quantities of sugar, fat, saturated fat, and salt. The highest values are red. “Lay’s is owned by Pepsico. They place these numbers on all their products in the name of transparency. But not always in the same way.” The researcher walks to the next isle, where the boxes of Quaker’s Cruesli are. These boxes also have the nutritional values on the front. “But now there are no colors. They’re less conspicuous. There may be an idea behind this. People know that chips or ice cream is unhealthy. A few colors will have no effect on consumption. That’s also the case in Chile. But thanks to marketing, breakfast cereals enjoy the reputation that they are a ‘good start’ to the day, even though some are full of sugar. Our Chilean research shows that warning labels on breakfast cereals do inhibit sales. It’s probably no coincidence that Pepsico, owner of Quaker, avoids colors that stand out on breakfast cereal.”

Companies like Hak and Pepsico know very well how to embrace noble health labels without jeopardizing their own profits. Does this make changing consumer behavior a mission impossible? Van Lin: “No. But we have to realize that factor number one, especially for low-educated classes, is still the price. A sugar tax could be effective. But a combination of eye-catching labels and discount campaigns that capitalize on them is also a powerful option. Because it is certain that ‘buy-one-get-one-free’ promotions work. I know that from more than just data. My own garage is full of supplies bought during hamster weeks.”