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

Support for Policies and Strategies to Promote Healthy Food Retail In-Store and Online: Perspectives From a National Sample of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Participants

OBJECTIVE

Gather perspectives on healthy retail policies and strategies from a national sample of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants.

DESIGN

Anonymous web-based survey fielded in English and Spanish. The survey measured support for healthy retail policies and strategies.

SETTING

National Qualtrics panel fielded on September 30 and October 19, 2022.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 1,559 adult SNAP participants (in the last 12 months) participated in the Qualtrics SNAP survey panel.

VARIABLES MEASURED

Overall support for retail policies and strategies was calculated using response frequencies and proportions.

ANALYSIS

Cross-tabulations and chi-square tests of independence assessed differences in policy support by online shopping behavior and nutrition security status. Significance was determined at P < 0.05.

RESULTS

Most SNAP participants were broadly supportive of policies and strategies to improve the healthy food retail environment. More restrictive policies were less popular than policies that expanded consumer choice. Support also varied by online shopping status and nutrition security status.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

Policies and strategies that improve the healthy food retail environment are popular among a national sample of SNAP participants. Policy discussions must understand SNAP participants' perspectives regarding changes to the retail environment that may impact their ability to access healthy foods.

WEIRD and non-consensual food deserts and swamps: A scoping review of operational definitions

The aim of the present study was to critically analyze operational definitions of food deserts and food swamps included in empirical studies published in peer-reviewed journals. A scoping review was conducted following the recommendations of the Joanna Briggs Institute and PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews. A search of the scientific literature was performed on August 2023 to identify empirical studies including operational definitions of food deserts and/or food swamps in three databases: Scopus, PubMed, and Scielo. A total of 932 scientific articles were identified in the three databases, from which 157 articles, published between 2002 and 2023, were included in the review. The included studies were mainly conducted in WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrilaized, Rich and Democractic) countries. They presented a total of 107 operational definitions of food deserts and 30 operational definitions of food swamps. Large heterogeneity in the operational definitions of food deserts and food swamps was found. Published studies differed in all the elements of the operational definitions analyzed in the present work. Results stress the need for standardization and the development of more objective and multivariate continuous measures of physical food accessibility that reflect the complexity of modern food environments globally. A series of recommendations to advance food environment research are derived.

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

OBJECTIVE

Most food retailers display foods in prominent locations as a marketing strategy (i.e. 'placement promotions'). We examined the extent to which households with children change their food and beverage purchases in response to these promotions.

DESIGN

We analysed a novel dataset of all products promoted in two supermarkets from 2016 to 2017, including promotion dates and locations (e.g. aisle endcaps and front registers). We linked promotions to all purchases from the supermarkets from 2016 to 2017 by a cohort of households with children. We calculated the number of weekly promotions in each of thirteen food and beverage groups (e.g. bread; candy) and used fixed effects regressions to estimate associations between number of weekly promotions and households' weekly food purchases, overall and by Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation.

SETTING

Two large supermarkets in Maine, USA.

PARTICIPANTS

Eight hundred and twenty-one households with children.

RESULTS

Most promotions (74 %) were for less healthy foods. The most promoted food groups were sweet and salty snacks (mean = 131·0 promotions/week), baked goods (mean = 68·2) and sugar-sweetened beverages (mean = 41·6). Households generally did not change their food group purchases during weeks when they were exposed to more promotions for those groups, except that a 1-sd increase in endcap candy promotions (about 1 promotion/week) was associated with $0·19/week (about 14·5 %) increase in candy purchases among SNAP nonparticipants (adjusted P < 0·001).

CONCLUSIONS

In-store placement promotions for food groups were generally not associated with purchases of promoted food groups, perhaps because exposure to unhealthy food marketing was consistently high. Substantial changes to in-store food marketing may be needed to promote healthier purchases.