People are opting out of constant self-improvement

Being+

 is a plant-based chocolate that offers sugar-conscious consumers a healthy sweet treat. While chocolate has long been synonymous with indulgence, the confectionery industry is challenging these assumptions in a bid to prove that being healthy doesn’t have to be a compromise, with brands like 

 rolling out vegan options across the UK and Europe. But how are consumers balancing the desire to indulge with ideals of health?

A healthy diet is front of mind for many consumers – one study found that 64% of Europeans had become more interested in learning more about the influence of food on their health during 2021. 

Deloitte

 However, with hopes of freedom in a post-pandemic world curtailed by soaring inflation and a seemingly endless, interconnected series of global crises, consumers are also reaching for what makes them feel good. People are almost equally compelled by both of these desires, with 40% of Americans consuming more comfort and junk food following the pandemic, while 47% report that their diets have become more health-conscious. 

Forbes

 Feelings of guilt around the consumption of ‘dirty’ foods still linger from the debunked ‘clean-eating’ trend of the mid-2010s – feelings that play into the hands of health anxieties, lead to disordered eating behaviours, and have negative effects on mental health and overall wellbeing. 

The Guardian

According to Sven Feurer, a professor of marketing at Bern University of Applied Sciences, instead of restricting these desires completely, it’s actually about maximising wellbeing. “Consumers need to find a strategy that optimises their wellbeing and balances the vice and virtue needs to some extent over time, such that they can lead a healthy life, but have enough indulgences to make them happy,” he says. 

Interview with Sven Feurer conducted by the author

 However, with many people struggling to maintain healthy diets, is there a way that brands to help consumers on their health and wellness journeys? Canvas8 spoke to Feurer about his co-authored study 

Really Rewarding Rewards: Strategic Licensing in Long-Term Healthy Food Consumption

, to understand how a strategic approach to healthy versus unhealthy consumption choices can lead to greater personal wellbeing.

Why is this topic important to understand?

The topic is of relevance against the backdrop of a surging obesity crisis. Two years ago was the first time in human history when the number of obese people was actually larger than the number of underweight people. Too many people do not eat healthily and that can have all sorts of problems, not only for the individual but for an entire society if we consider negative effects such as increased health care costs and use of resources.

A frequent observation we make is that people want to live healthy lives. However, they go into the grocery store with the best intention to have something like a healthy salad for dinner, and then they come out with a bag of potato chips and a pizza. You know you shouldn’t do it, but you can always justify it. One very common way to do that is by ‘licensing’, where for instance, after a long day at work or successfully completing a project or because it is one’s birthday, people feel entitled to choose a guilt-free indulgence over a healthier option.

The problem is that most people have two active goals that do not fit very well together, with the first being a long-term goal of wanting to lead a healthy life, and the second being that most people have an active goal that is immediate gratification. People want to live a little, have indulgences, and have guilty pleasures. That’s what makes life worth living for many. ‘Virtue’ options, which are food options that bring you closer to the goal of long-term health, tend to be less suitable for immediate gratification. Whereas ‘vice’ options are the antithesis that can provide that immediate gratification but can also potentially be detrimental to your ultimate long-term health goal.

This study builds on a large body of research examining individual choices in food decision-making. Very often these research projects gave individuals a choice between a food option that is very healthy and one that is very yummy. For instance, an apple versus a piece of chocolate. They would conclude that if you choose the piece of chocolate you are an individual that has low self-control. However, rather than looking at these choices as isolated, we considered them as a part of a larger set of connected decisions. The question we asked ourselves is if we adopt a long-term perspective and look at many purchases in a row, then would people try to find a balance somehow between choosing vice and virtue food options? Are people making that decision in the context of what they are planning to do in the future and how do they make these decisions over a larger period of time? Could the individuals who choose chocolate be adopting long-term healthy consumption patterns while also indulging? Overall, the idea of the research was to see if these types of consumers live very healthily, but then also very strategically indulge themselves.

We conducted a multimethod study, which consisted of a longitudinal analysis over a 14-month period and an online experiment. In the first part, we observed the food choices of consumers enrolled in the online reward program of a US-based deli chain that offers a variety of indulgent and not-so-indulgent healthy options. In the second, we replicated the same effects we found in the first study in an online-based experiment to understand the thought process in people’s food choices.

One of our most important findings is that consumers form a strategic plan which includes occasional indulgences when they are selecting their food options. By self-licensing, choosing chocolate or pizza is not only okay, but they’re almost entitled to do so as they are restraining themselves from these unhealthier choices for longer periods of time until the right moment occurs again. That effect is stronger for those people who show very healthy consumption patterns overall. These are the people who overall live healthy lives and have very healthy consumption habits, but then allow themselves to indulge only on reward occasions, before immediately going back to their healthier consumption patterns.

Our study has the potential to help people who show unhealthy consumption patterns or live on unhealthy diets, but who would like to improve their health. It shows them that they can indulge, but they need to be strategic and better at indulging. It also brings evidence that people are capable of forming a strategic plan that allows them to indulge and yet still live healthy lives. Indulgence does not need to be the enemy of healthy eating. It’s not like you can never indulge again to live a healthy life, but maybe you can be a little bit smarter and strategic about the way you indulge in exceptional but recurring situations. You can optimise your wellbeing and live a healthy life while at the same time allowing yourself some indulgence once in a while.

Globally, 85% of people reach out for one indulgent snack and one snack for sustenance every day, and 75% of Gen Zers say they’ve replaced at least one meal with a snack. 

Mondelez

But with cookies and potato chips the most popular choice among American snackers, these behaviours are often not synonymous with health. 

Statista

However, research suggests this is changing – according to Mondelez, the fastest rising motivator for snacking is ‘serving nutritional needs’. 

 This creates an opportunity for brands to support consumers in striking that balance between immediate indulgences and long-term health goals. In an attempt to meet these needs, 

 offer low-calorie, high-protein alternatives to crisps, while 

 has unveiled a healthier multi-grain range as a counterpart to its traditional offerings. 

The Grocer

Supporting customers to find the right balance

Despite rising food costs, 84% of Americans still say they consider health and wellness when buying fresh food. But as people’s purchasing power is eroded by inflation, almost one in five have swapped out fresh ingredients for frozen alternatives or other shelf-stable options, rising to one in four in lower-income and rural households. 

 To counter this, there’s a pressing need for policymakers and corporations to take the lead in actively pushing for more affordable, fresh, and healthy options. Amid the cost of living crisis, brands that empower people to nutritionally elevate their diets through affordable fresh food can help people to strike the right balance – enabling indulgence and wellbeing to coexist. For example, a partnership between tech start-up 

 is personalising food and drink recommendations for people with health conditions.

Mini-experiences as rituals of indulgences

Indulging oneself with purchases goes beyond food choices – 70% of US Gen Yers said they planned to treat themselves with new purchases as the pandemic subsided in 2021. 

 To help people to find pleasure in times of crisis, brands can transform micro-moments and experiences into rituals of indulgence. In celebration of the launch of its loaded fries, 

 to produce limited-edition adult bibs, enabling people to tuck in and fully embrace an occasion of fast-food indulgence. And elsewhere, in the travel sector, 

launched a campaign encouraging people to consciously indulge in unique experiences. Blending daily rituals of chocolate and exquisite food, anchored in local culture, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts seeks to offer guests nuggets of gratification and a sense of escape.

 of Americans are consuming more comfort and junk food since the pandemic, while 

 report that their diets have become more health-conscious

 of people reach out for one indulgent snack and one snack for sustenance every day

 of Americans have swapped out fresh ingredients for frozen alternatives or other shelf-stable options amid the cost of living crisis

Strategically considered indulgences can be of benefit to overall wellbeing in healthy lifestyles

The desire for immediate gratification from food can hinder long-term health goals, but a complete restriction of those vices can also have negative effects on wellbeing

Brands can build loyalty by supporting consumers in their goals for a healthy lifestyle through actively providing healthier alternatives and offering benefits and rewards

Sven Feurer is a Professor of Marketing and the head of the marketing group at Bern University of Applied Sciences. Professor Feurer's research focuses on consumer behaviour, pricing, and innovation management.

Global

Behavioural Sciences

Satisfying cravings while maintaining a healthy lifestyle can be difficult, but could occasional indulgences actually be the key to our wellbeing goals? Canvas8 interviewed Sven Feurer about how strategic licensing can help optimise well-being and promote healthy living.

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