Consumer Research:  Insights for healthier and more sustainable choices

• What are the main gaps in consumers’ food and nutrition knowledge?
• Which types of interventions are more promising in reducing the risk of chronic diseases?
• What information do consumers want to know to eat more healthily and sustainably?
• Which factors determine how much food consumers waste?

These are only some of the questions that we try to answer with consumer research. To understand consumer beliefs, perceptions, attitudes, needs, priorities, and behaviours we utilize a wide range of research methods. These can be qualitative methods (e.g., interviews, focus groups), which generate in-depth insights and lead to better understanding of thought processes in small groups of people, or quantitative (e.g., online surveys, field studies), which test if patterns emerge, whether accurate predictions can be made, and generalise the results to a wider population. To synthesize existing scientific knowledge on certain topics we also conduct desk research and literature reviews. Our research always builds on the existing literature and is grounded in theories of behaviour change and cognition.

Our results are used to:

• design evidence-based communication to support behaviour change
• extend the scientific literature and update the scientific community (e.g., via publications in peer-reviewed journals)
• help policymakers make informed decisions in the development, implementation, and evaluation of public health policies
• support food chain actors in fostering innovation, improving efficiency, enhancing safety, and being part of healthier and more sustainable food systems