Social marketing, parental purchasing decisions, and unhealthy food in developing countries: A Nigerian typology

Abstract

Developing nations are emerging from food poverty and overcoming associated externalities such as malnutrition. However, there is a growing possibility that due to the globalization of food markets and widespread use of different marketing approaches, children immediately then become exposed to a new set of externalities associated with unhealthy food choices, such as obesity. In this article, we explore the relatively under-researched area of the influence that marketing and packaging may have on parents' food purchasing behaviour in developing countries. We present the results of a multivariate analysis of a survey of parents in Nigeria as a case study, exploring the characteristics and attitudes of parents to develop a typology of consumers whose young children may be at risk from eating unhealthy food. In addition, we consider the role that social marketing could play in encouraging segments of parents to purchase more healthy food for their children and changing children's purchasing behaviour. While older parents appear to be more susceptible to children's food purchasing requests, younger households appear to be vulnerable to forming unhealthy consumption habits, which could create further economic, social, and humanitarian development issues as countries try to raise national incomes. The importance of segmented social marketing and globalized versus local marketing differentiation is emphasized A social marketing approach may not only reduce worrying trends relating to childhood obesity but also play a role in reducing malnutrition, as it is important that corporations and governments ensure that developing nations do not emerge from one food-health crisis only to encounter another.

Determinants and outcomes of price premium and loyalty: A food case study

“…First, practitioners in the food sector should devote special attention to quality‐based not only on the product quality but also on service quality or even appearance quality. For instance, firms should offer services such as “better use of the product” or work on packaging presentation (Gómez et al, ; McLeay & Oglethorpe, ). For managers of high‐quality olive oil, the results of this research are also interesting.…”

Indonesian healthy living intentions: Segmentation study insights

“…Social marketing program designers have begun to apply segmentation theory to understand group differences in study populations in diverse fields including obesity (McLeay & Oglethorpe, ; Olds, Thomas, Lewis, & Petkov, ), alcohol (Dietrich, Rundle‐Thiele, Leo et al, ; Dietrich, Rundle‐Thiele, Schuster et al, ), and physical activity (Rundle‐Thiele, Kubacki, Tkaczynski, & Parkinson, ). Segmentation has been considered as a key ingredient for designing more targeted social marketing programs (Andreasen, ; Lefebvre & Flora, ; Rundle‐Thiele et al, ).…”

Influence of Television Food Advertisements Related Purchasing Behaviours on Dietary Intake and Obesity Among Children in China

“…[34] Thirdly, in developing countries such as China, older primary caregivers, such as grandparents, appear to be susceptible and receptive to children's food purchasing requests. [35] Thus, these primary caregivers are likely to give in to children's purchasing requests for unhealthy advertised foods, which may in uence children's eating habits and increase the risk of childhood obesity.…”