Recreation centre managers’ perceptions of pricing interventions to promote healthy eating

Abstract

Retailers have the capacity to improve the food and beverage environment by making healthier options more affordable and attractive for their consumers. The perspectives of retailers on feasible and acceptable pricing strategies are not known. The aim of this study was to understand retailers’ perceptions of factors that are relevant to feasible and acceptable health-promoting food and beverage pricing interventions. A convenience sample of 11 aquatic and recreation centre managers in Victoria, Australia was recruited to participate in semi-structured interviews. We took a pragmatic approach with the aim of understanding retailers’ perceptions of factors that affect the feasibility and acceptability of pricing interventions within their facilities. Thematic analysis was used to synthesize and interpret retailers’ perceptions of pricing interventions. Key themes identified were: structural and organizational characteristics (the internal and external characteristics of aquatic and recreation centres), characteristics of feasible pricing changes (type, magnitude and products targeted by pricing strategies) and business outcomes (profits and customer feedback). Results suggest that pricing interventions to promote healthy food and beverage choices can be feasible and acceptable to retailers, though contextual considerations are likely to be important. Future studies should use these findings to design interventions most likely to be acceptable to retailers, work with retailers to implement health-promoting food and beverage pricing interventions, evaluate the impact on business outcomes including customer perspectives and profitability, and test transferability to other retail settings.

Policies influencing the provision of healthy food and drinks in local government‐owned sport and recreation facilities in Victoria, Australia

“…18 A recent study interviewing 11 aquatic and recreation managers in Victoria, Australia also identified stakeholder (including staff and management) support as key to implementing a healthy retailer intervention. 19 The lack of hierarchy in barriers in our study may be due to the fact that all successful changes require similar key elements, whereas progress may be inhibited due to a variety of different context-specific reasons. Even though no barriers appeared to be more important than another, identifying and addressing barriers is clearly important for effective implementation of policies and healthy changes.…”

“…Even though no barriers appeared to be more important than another, identifying and addressing barriers is clearly important for effective implementation of policies and healthy changes. 19,20 In order to manage barriers, capacity building has been identified as the behind-the-scene work needed to increase the likelihood of a sustainable healthy change initiative. This includes the development of skills and resources, gathering organisational commitment and establishing key infrastructure required for the healthy change initiative.…”

Measuring public opinion and acceptability of prevention policies: an integrative review and narrative synthesis of methods

“…Three of these studies were about tobacco control interventions, such as smoke-free pubs and bars [ 137 ] and tobacco “endgame” strategies in New Zealand [ 138 , 139 ]. The remaining study included interviews with recreation centre managers regarding pricing interventions to promote healthier food choices [ 140 ].…”