Marketing Nutrition: Soy, Functional Foods, Biotechnology, and Obesity

1. Nutrition Knowledge That Matters

one Nutrition฀Knowledge฀That฀Matters Many people want to believe that nutritional knowledge is power. That is, they believe that if we can simply educate people so that they can pass a nutrition quiz, they will all eat better. Almost everyone knows that fruit is better for them than cookies, that a salad is better for them than french fries, and that broiled fish is better for them than a deep-fried pork chop. Despite this knowledge, cookie sales remain high, pork production is increasing, and even though a $0.99 garden salad at Burger King is less expensive than a $1.29 order of french fries, it is outsold by more than thirty to one. Does nutritional knowledge really have such little impact on behavior ? When past studies have tried to tie the two together, they typically compare people who have nutritional knowledge with people who have none. Yet “having knowledge” is not an all-or-nothing state. We have differing degrees of knowledge about almost everything. We have differing degrees of knowledge about the state capitals, about French nouns, and about nutrition. Few people know “all or nothing” about anything. The thesis of this chapter is that how much nutrition information consumers are given is less important than what information they are given. Before examining what information we should try to communicate to consumers, it may be useful to see where consumers get the nutrition informationtheytrustmost.A 2002 studybytheFoodMarketingInstitute found some insights relevant to the dissemination of nutrition information (Figure 1.1). The most frequently used and one of the most trusted 01.11-20_Wans.indd฀฀฀13 3/30/05฀฀฀2:47:59฀PM 14 • secrets about food and people sources for nutrition education was magazines. Among the least used and least trusted sources were nutritionists. Clearly something we are doing is wrong. We are not providing compelling , trusted information in an easily accessible manner. Perhaps we have been too concerned with the science and nuances of nutrition and not about the day-to-day, practical, low-involvement use of nutrition information. Let’s examine the different types of nutrition information and how they appear to be used on a daily basis. The฀Two฀Tiers฀of฀Nutritional฀Knowledge Whether someone eats healthful foods is related partly to the type of knowledge he or she has about nutrition. The adoption of healthful foods is associated with two different tiers of knowledge. On a basic level, we can have attribute-level knowledge about a food. This is where we can identify a food’s features or attributes, such as its calorie content, fat level, or protein density. On a higher level, we can have knowledge that is more consequence related. It is centered around knowing that “this food makes me fat” or “it is bad for my heart.” Most nutrition education efforts are focused Figure 1.1. Where consumers get the nutritional information they trust. (Food Marketing Institute 2002.) Where฀Do฀You฀Get฀Nutrition฀Information?฀(%) ฀ ◆฀Magazines ฀ ■฀ Television ฀ ▲฀ Doctor ฀ ❇฀ Newspaper ฀ ●฀ Books ฀ ❖฀ Internet ฀ ▼฀ Other ฀ ✖฀ Nutritionist ฀ ★฀ Radio ◆ ● ❖ ■ ▼ ✖ ★ ❇ What฀Is฀Your฀Most฀Trusted฀Information฀Source?฀(%) 25 20 15 10 5 0 0฀ 10฀ 20฀ 30฀ 40฀ 50 ▲ 01.11-20_Wans.indd฀฀฀14 3/30/05฀฀฀2:47:59฀PM Nutrition฀Knowledge฀That฀Matters • 15 on attribute-level knowledge. It is focused on passing a multiple-choice nutrition quiz. This chapter focuses on how both types of knowledge are related to the acceptance and consumption of a functional food. Throughout this book, functional foods refers to those that provide a health benefit beyond basic nutrition (Table 1.1). A functional food can be naturally functional (such as oatmeal, which contains cholesterol-reducing beta glucan), or it can contain an added ingredient that makes the traditional food functional (such as probiotic bacteria added to yogurt). Functional foods can be divided into categories based on whether they contribute to gut health (such as fermented yogurt drinks), bone health (such as calcium-enriched milk or juice), heart health (such as soy), or immune system health (such as broccoli). Functional foods can also be seen as embedded in a continuum ranging from normal foods (potatoes) to nutritious foods (fruit juice) to health foods (herbal tea) to functional foods (protein drinks) to medicine (vitamins). With the recent increase in interest in diet and nutrition, encouraging people to eat functional foods has become faddish, and it has helped boost initial interest and sales. Unfortunately, people often are hesitant...