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Consumers

Consumers

Consumers are the final judges of all innovation in the food sector. They determine whether no products will be a success or not, whether a new food processing technology will be adopted, and whether attempts to encourage healthier or sustainable eating eventually will succeed.

We do research on consumer behaviour with regard to food and drink. We analyze how consumers choose the food that they buy, and how these choices are influenced by characteristics of the product, the store in which the product is bought, communication about the product, and of course the consumer him-/herself. We study motivations to buy healthy and sustainable food products, and look at how such motivations are embedded in consumer lifestyles and values. We also look at how consumers use the products they buy to prepare meals, and how routines and habits in the household combine to meal patterns.

We look at various ways in which food consumer behaviour is influenced. We study both conscious, deliberate decision-making and semiconscious or automatic reactions to the way in which the environment in which choices are made is organized. In carrying out such studies, we use a broad range of methods, including surveys, interviews, observations, eye-tracking and reaction time studies.

Our research can be applied in the product development process in the food industry, and devising such kinds of applications is a research topic in its own right. At the same, time we also look at how consumer insights can be applied to public policy in the area of health and nutrition, looking at the effects of for example nutrition labeling, health claims and dietary guidelines.