Posts Tagged ‘consumer behavior’

Were Meal Kits Just a Pandemic Thing?

March 15, 2022 — The pandemic isn’t done with us yet. Cases are rising a bit in Europe and it’s anyone’s guess where this is heading. But certainly, it appears that many of us are done with the pandemic. Does this mean the boom in meal kits will fade? Will it turn out that they were just a pandemic […]

Pandemic Fitness: Peloton Takes a Dive

January 25, 2022 — The pandemic rearranged the landscape for many industries, and it certainly did that for the fitness industry. In 2019, it was a $97 billion industry. Then it shrank to $54 billion in 2021. Facilities closed and suddenly the big trends were fitness apps, home fitness, and outdoor workouts. Proving that luck matters, Peloton soared in […]

Too Few Fruits and Veggies, but Plenty of Talk

January 7, 2022 — We are stuck in an infinite loop, it seems. Yet again, we have a new report in MMWR to tell us that Americans are eating too few fruits and veggies. In fact, only one in ten meet the recommendation in the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans. That’s one and a half to two cups of […]

The Hazard of One Size Fits All

November 14, 2021 — It’s hard to miss the zeal that people bring to matters of health, wellness, and fitness. We’re part of it. Believing that health systems should, can, and will do better in helping folks with obesity, we devote silly amounts of time to writing about it daily. The motivation is simply to share information that might […]

Ultra-Processed Foods: More Today Than Yesterday

October 27, 2021 — Clearly, the public has a very mixed-up approach to ultra-processed foods. On one hand, nutrition experts and foodies will solemnly nod and agree that we all need to eat less of them. But on the other hand, ultra-processed plant-based foods that might induce people to eat less meat are a hot trend of 2021. On […]

Labels Change Behavior – Is That Good Enough?

October 15, 2021 — Scientia potentia est – this Latin aphorism attributed to Francis Bacon tells us that knowledge is power. This idea motivates us to seek information and turn it into wise actions. But that translation is not automatic. For instance, a new study in PLOS Medicine finds that food labels can indeed change consumer behavior to favor […]

Giving Angry Nonsense a Megaphone

August 15, 2021 — Angry nonsense in denial of factual reality seems to be a growing presence. A school board facing difficult decisions to keep children safe in the new school year faces angry threats from people who want to get their way. “We will find you,” say people who are in a frenzy, thinking that wearing a mask […]

Why Healthy Eating Is Tricky for a Big Food Company

May 31, 2021 — Consumers want to eat healthy. Food companies want to sell them products to meet that need. So what’s the problem? Well, there’s a big gap between what people say and what they do. Talking about healthy eating is easy. But following through on healthy eating is very tricky for a big food company because the […]

Did the Pandemic Kill Skinny Jeans?

April 18, 2021 — It’s official. We seem to be in the early stages of a new denim cycle. Looser fitting jeans with a high waist or a flare at the bottom are in. The pandemic may have hastened the demise of skinny jeans, says Levi Straus CEO Chip Bergh: “This is not the first time we’ve seen this […]

How Long Before Diet Resolutions Fade? A Bit of Data

January 12, 2021 — Isaac Bashevis Singer told us we must believe in free will – there is no other choice. Thus, many of us put a great deal of energy into resolutions at this time of year. Often, they involve an effort to eat more healthfully. Resolve fades. Though 77 percent of resolutions last for at least a […]