EUFIC:interesting latest..

Drivers of choice: What motivates consumer behaviour A recent EUFIC qualitative study in five countries finds that food plays a much bigger role in consumers’ lives than just to nourish and feed them. Food can mean wellness, for example enjoying one’s food is often linked to comfort, relaxation and a positive attitude. It also shows that what people see as good for their health depends on their own perceptions, i.e. what makes them feel good, comforts them and leads to well-being. Read more

Food decisions: Causes of biases It seems that people rely on two different cognitive systems when making decisions: The “experiential” and the “analytic” system. The analytic system is slow and elaborated, whereas the experiential allows quick decisions. People often rely on simple heuristics (a rule or a method that comes from experience and helps you reach an educated guess), in order to make quick decisions. Read more

Achieving successful behaviour change Changing human behaviour is at the heart of solving global problems central to human well-being, social cohesion and environmental sustainability. For example, preventing obesity, air pollution and waste of environmental resources and improving cyber security and economic stability all require behaviour change at individual, organisational and population levels. Obesity in particular is one of the main health risk factors in countries such as the UK, where 26% of adults and 16% of children are obese, rates almost double those of 25 years ago. At the same time, purchases of fruits and vegetables have fallen dramatically in recent years, making it clear that behaviour change is urgently needed. Read more

The challenges of communicating food risk The language of risk has become ubiquitous over the last 20 years. High profile risk issues have attracted both policy and public attention although often with notable variations in the direction and degree of that attention, as exemplified in incidents around salmonella in eggs, BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) and GM (Genetically modified) food. In addition, public bodies seeking to communicate risk as well as those that receive and interpret that information have certain predispositions. However, it’s important not to unthinkingly designate publics as irrational and to recognise that risk communicators may be inappropriately confident in the effectiveness of information provision. Read more