Savvy snack bar marketing could 'ad' up to better
nutrition for kids
CNRC behavior scientists took a page out of the food
marketers' handbook to entice middle school students
to eat healthier.
In a study involving more than 10,000 sixth, seventh,
and eighth graders, marketing research strategies commonly
used by food companies to sell snacks like soda and
chips were used to make school snack bar offerings healthier
and increase students' fruit and vegetables consumption.
"Figuring out how to get kids to buy healthy
foods like fruits and vegetables with their lunch money
is as much a marketing challenge as it is a health issue,"
said Dr. Karen Cullen, an assistant professor of pediatrics
at Baylor College of Medicine.
According to Cullen, kids' consumption of fruits
and vegetables slips significantly between elementary
and middle school, a time when they begin having access
to snack bars. Snack bars, favored for their convenience,
tend to offer foods like pizza, burgers, fries and chips
-- but no fruit or low-fat vegetables.
"The experience of foodservice managers is that
kids won't buy fruits or low-fat vegetables at the snack
bar," she said. "We decided to see whether
we could change that."
Cullen's team put on their "marketing caps"
to kick off the study. Their goal: learn what middle
school students - their "target market" -
thought.
"A basic tenet of marketing is the need to understand
your customer," she said. "We needed to hear
from students what fruits and vegetables they liked
and what they thought they would buy -- and why."
Through focus groups and written surveys, the team
gained important marketing insights, such as kids who
liked apples and oranges wouldn't buy a whole piece
of fruit because it was hard to eat or messy. On the
other hand, apple slices offered with a small side of
caramel dip got enthusiastic approval.
Armed with this knowledge, Cullen's team crafted
a two-pronged marketing plan.
First, the team worked with foodservice managers
to develop healthy kid-friendly "products,"
such as salad "shakers," veggie and dip "grab
bags", and bananas with a small side of chocolate
dip, for the snack bars.
Then they launched an "advertising campaign",
consisting of poster "ads" and cafeteria table
tents.
"The 'ads' connected eating the new snack bar
fruit and vegetable 'products' with the things that
kids told us they want most, like friends, being cool,
and having fun," Cullen said.
These are the same feelings that snack food companies
tap into so effectively with ads for high fat/high sugar
foods aimed at kids.
"Marketing is used to sell everything from shoes
to sodas to kids. Why shouldn't it be used to sell healthy
foods at school snack bars, too?" she said.
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