Another consumer research study appears this week, this time focusing on consumer knowledge of trans fats and the effects of this knowledge on eating behaviors.
In general, consumers who are more involved in a health and wellness lifestyle (core wellness consumers) are more likely to understand the origins and the effects of trans fats, and make more efforts to read labels and avoid them. The majority of consumers, however, have only a vague and general definition of what trans fats are, and they are often unable to clearly articulate the difference between this fat and others, such as polyunsaturated fat...
According to the Hartman Group, most consumers associate trans fats with snack foods (such as potato chips), fast food (such as French fries) and margarine.
But the group's findings also reveal that concern about trans fats generally does not determine the types of products people choose to consume.
“There are many other factors such as price, convenience and taste that generally exert greater influence on the decision-making of periphery and mid-level wellness consumers,” said the Hartman Group, adding that those consumers least likely to follow a healthy lifestyle are generally “not sufficiently motivated to engage in any consistent avoidance strategy, even if they do believe that trans fat is bad for health.”
But where people do make an effort to limit trans fat intake, this normally comes in the form of reducing consumption of fried food, with 42 percent of consumers indicating this behavior. However, this is much more common among core wellness consumers (64 percent) than among periphery consumers (23 percent).
And those people who do make efforts to avoid trans fats generally tend to do so as a result of health triggers, such as a recent diagnosis, or the presence of an existing health condition. Concern about the nutrition of one's children can also act as a key driver.
via The Morning Cup
Technorati Tags: Audience Research, Nutrition, Trans Fats
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