In-Store Marketing and Supermarket Purchases: Associations Overall and by Transaction SNAP Status

Effects of in-store marketing on food and beverage purchases: a longitudinal study of households with children

“…Given prior research showing that food marketing drives children's food preferences (4)(5)(6)(7)(8) , our results suggest the need to identify strategies to improve the healthfulness of the retail food marketing environment. For example, grocery stores could make voluntary commitments to improve the healthfulness of the products they promote (16,47) , and policymakers could adopt policies that incentivise stores to place healthier products in prominent locations or restrict them from placing unhealthy products in these locations (41,48) .…”

“…Limitations of this study include that both study supermarkets were located in the Northeast and the majority of participants identified as non-Hispanic White; studies in other areas and among more diverse populations are needed. Second, we were unable to examine how purchases of specific products changed when those products were promoted due to sparse data on purchases of any given product, though prior studies have addressed that question (16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21) . Instead, we examined purchases of entire food groups (e.g.…”

“…at aisle endcaps or the front register) (12,13) . Despite the prevalence of in-store placement promotions, it remains largely unknown how these promotions affect individual-or household-level purchases, as almost all studies of placement promotions have examined store-level sales (14)(15)(16) . This makes it challenging to ascertain how promotions affect individual consumers' purchase decisions, if at all.…”

“…Our primary objectives were to characterise households' exposure to in-store placement promotions in these stores and to examine associations between in-store placement promotions and households' purchases of healthier and less healthy food and beverage groups. A recent study of store sales data found that the effects of in-store placement promotions may vary by product healthfulness and by household participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (16) , so we also conducted analyses stratifying by these variables.…”

Changing the Food Environment One Checkout Lane at a Time

“…In most grocery and convenience stores, candy, sugar-sweetened beverages, and salty snacks are found in prominent locations near front entrances, on aisle endcaps, and in checkout lanes, leading to impulse purchases. 2 Despite evidence that unhealthy marketing practices have a larger effect on low-income and racial and ethnic minority shoppers, 2-4 these practices have gone unchecked. Some supermarkets and other food retailers have voluntarily implemented programs (eg, healthy shelf labels) to help their customers make healthy choices.…”