Genitori e consumatori: le scelte alimentari tra figli e marketing

Quanto l’etica del marketing alimentare – soprattutto quando indirizzato ai bambini – influisce sulle scelte dei genitori? C’è una sensibilità crescente che porta i genitori – in qualità di consumatori – a boicottare le aziende alimentari poco virtuose?

Questo è il primo articolo del blog in italiano, proprio perché tocca da vicino le famiglie italiane e le loro scelte di consumo. Ho infatti deciso di dare qui spazio alla ricerca da me condotta tra Luglio e Settembre 2015 per la mia tesi di laurea “Marketing ethics and children: how ethicality impacts on parent’s purchasing behaviour”, basata su un questionario rivolto ai genitori italiani di bambini di età compresa fra gli 0 e i 12 anni. Il questionario – condiviso su Facebook in gruppi dedicati alla genitorialità – era volto a verificare alcune ipotesi:

• Relazione positiva tra riconoscimento di un comportamento di marketing alimentare poco etico e comportamento punitivo (boicottaggio) delle aziende poco virtuose
• Relazione positiva tra attenzione all’approccio etico e comportamento premiale nei confronti delle aziende virtuose
• Relazione positiva tra attenzione a una dieta salutare e attenzione all’approccio etico
• Relazione positiva tra grado d’informazione sui temi etici e comportamento punitivo

Il metodo era presentare ai genitori un comportamento – dall’advergaming, ossia  la creazione di videogiochi connessi a prodotti alimentari e alla loro sponsorizzazione, alle pubblicità che promuovono come colazione ideale dei bambini cibi ricchi di zuccheri e grassi, dalla pubblicità “mimetizzata” all’interno di programmi interamente dedicati all’infanzia alla promozione di bevande molto zuccherate e gasate per i bambini – e testare la loro reazione di fronte a esso.

Genitori e consumatori: le scelte alimentari tra figli e marketing

I risultati più rilevanti sono stati:

• 406 risposte in 3 giorni! Questo risultato sorprendente – considerando il tema, abbastanza di nicchia – è già di per sé un segnale che le famiglie italiane hanno un interesse crescente per l’aspetto etico, soprattutto in un settore delicato come quello alimentare.
• Il 98.3% dei rispondenti sono donne: questo dato è un segnale del fatto che l’educazione alimentare dei bambini italiani è ancora ad appannaggio quasi totale delle madri.
• La relazione positiva tra riconoscimento di un comportamento poco etico e comportamento punitivo delle aziende poco virtuose è stata verificata: i genitori italiani sono più pronti ad agire concretamente contro le aziende dai comportamenti non etici.
• La relazione positiva tra l’attenzione a una dieta salutare e l’attenzione all’approccio etico è stata verificata: le famiglie più sensibili a educare i propri figli a uno stile di vita sano e ad abitudini alimentari equilibrate sono anche più attente ai comportamenti etici delle aziende che operano in questo settore.
• Maggiore è l’informazione sul tema, maggiore è la disposizione ad adottare comportamenti punitivi nei confronti delle aziende poco virtuose.

Genitori e consumatori: le scelte alimentari tra figli e marketing

Le mie conclusioni convergono intorno a un punto focale: l’etica del marketing – soprattutto in campo alimentare – è un tema d’interesse crescente per la società, soprattutto per le famiglie, che sentono in particolar modo la responsabilità di proteggere i propri figli da un tipo di marketing spregiudicato e poco attento alle esigenze dell’età infantile. Attualmente, la popolazione “salutista” è in forte aumento – basti pensare alla crescita esponenziale del trend vegetariano e vegano – e questo va di pari passo con un approccio più critico nei confronti del marketing alimentare e dei suoi aspetti più privi di scrupoli, che possono nuocere a una società già gravata dal problema pressante dell’obesità infantile – che, ricordiamo, non è solo americano.Da neolaureata in economia che ha appena avuto accesso al mondo del marketing, suggerisco alle aziende di non sottovalutare l’impegno etico e di considerare che comportamenti spregiudicati, sebbene profittevoli nel breve termine, possono essere puniti dai consumatori in un futuro quanto mai prossimo.    

Coop and ethical marketing to kids: an Italian example of responsibility

I was in a supermarket, walking down a corridor dedicated to croissants, biscuits and snacks. I was greedily glancing at some snacks  full of chocolate and coconut, intended to leave them on the shelf – it’s swimsuit season, dammit! – while I noticed the following symbol printed on the box:

Coop and ethical marketing to kids: labels

“Moderate consumption for kids”

This thing impressed me positively, since it is a good example of honest and ethical marketing towards kids. It is not profit-oriented at all: some parents, reading it, could avoid buying the product or, at least, drastically reduce their consumption of it. It is an act of responsibility. 

I searched on the Internet some information about this symbol and the philosophy of the company producing these products, Coop. Coop (abbreviation of Consumers’ Cooperative) is a system of Italian consumers’ cooperatives which runs the largest supermarket chain in Italy. Coop was created to buy and resell high-quality goods at fair prices to its members and to consumers in general, striving for biological goods and for food safety. 

More precisely, Coop is committed to offer healthy products to kids, dedicating to them tailored goods and launching informative campaigns in order to support parents’ in their buying decisions and to fight children obesity. Researches show that, in Italy, 22.9% of children between 8-9 years old are overweight and 11.1% are obese. One of the main causes is having wrong eating habits: too many animal proteins, too many sugars and fats, and food with a very limited fiber content, for a total caloric intake that is too high for children. Vegetables are not generally appreciated by kids and parents, instead of educating their children to eat them, they simply get over it. 

Coop and ethical marketing to kids: fighting obesity

For these reasons, Coop launched a project supervised by ECOG (European Childhood Obesity Group) and SIO (Società Italiana dell’Obesità), in order to sensitize families about this problem and to offer their children some healthy product created expressly for them. The campaign is called Club 4-10 (the children ages to which the campaign is mainly dedicated) and it has some goals. First, the increase of information, in order to guide parents in their buying decisions: the symbol presented above is one of the main measures adopted, an immediate and clever way to dissuade parents offering these products to their kids on a daily basis. Then, the creation of a line of products called Club 4-10 Coop addressed to kids between 4 and 10 years old and nutritionally balanced, and of another one called Crescendo Coop (Growing Up Coop), dedicated to children up to three years old, which uses organic ingredients and which avoids salt and sugar, unnecessary in the early stages of children’s life. Finally, Coop has a website entirely dedicated to this topic and campaign: if you are interested in it, just have a look!

Coop and ethical marketing to kids: Club 4-10

I praise this responsible approach to kids and I strongly suggest consumers to reward this kind of behaviour: doing so, in the end this will become the only conduct admitted and “unethical companies” will gradually disappear.

Beverage companies and marketing to kids: PepsiCo's case

Marketing to kids and ethics: dichotomy or duo? In PepsiCo, it seems that the two concepts are not antithetical, indeed they coexist successfully. In 2015, PepsiCo was honoured with the World’s Most Ethical Company title in the food and beverages field by Ethisphere, together with Kellogg’s, Ingredion Incorporated, the Hershey Company and the Italian brand illycaffé. 

Beverage companies: PepsiCo's case

Their marketing philosophy is based on transparency, and on their website they claim:

«More and more, consumers want and expect clear product nutrition information that allows them to make dietary decisions to meet their individual and family nutritional needs.Providing that information is our goal and, in many geographic markets, our nutrition labelling practices go beyond local requirements, with additional information to support consumer choice».

On its packaging, PepsiCo provides the key nutrition information – calorie count and key nutrients - its customers need in order to make aware dietary choices. 

Moreover, PepsiCo has a special commitment towards children: the company ensures that

«only products that meet our strict science-based nutrition criteria are advertised to any audience made up of more than 35 percent children under the age of 12». 

The products advertised, as said, respect the PepsiCo’s Global Nutrition Criteria for Advertising to Children. Moreover, PepsiCo promotes healthy eating habits among children, directing sales to schools focusing on water, juice, milk and low-calorie beverages. In 2013, PepsiCo implemented a policy according to which the company refused to buy advertising in programs addressing for more than the 35% children under the age of 12. 

On the contrary, the report Sugary Drinks FACTS 2014, released by the Yale Rudd Centre for Food Policy & Obesity in 2014, claims that beverages companies have still a log way to go to improve the responsibility of their marketing practices – especially when addressing kids. Jennifer Harris, Yale Rudd Center’s director of marketing initiatives and lead author of the report, commented:

«Despite promises by major beverage companies to be part of the solution in addressing childhood obesity, our report shows that companies continue to market their unhealthy products directly to children and teens. They have also rapidly expanded marketing in social and mobile media that are popular with young people, but much more difficult for parents to monitor.» 

Beverage companies and marketing to kids: Sugary Drinks FACTS 

The report shows some improvements: children between 6 and 11 years old viewed fewer TV ads (-39%) in 2013 than in 2010, sugary drinks advertising on website primarily visited by young people declined by 72% and Coca-Cola Co., Dr Pepper Snapple Group and PepsiCo provide more nutritional information on their packaging and on their websites. 

On the other hand, the report found out that preschoolers saw 39% more ads for PepsiCo's sugary drinks in 2013 than in 2010 (25% for kids between 6 and 11 years old). These data are in contrast with PepsiCo's ethical statement, and a representative of the company defined the findings 'misleading' and claimed: 

«the truth is that PepsiCo is, and will continue to be, a responsible marketer, particularly when it comes to children.»

The American Beverage Association – an industry trade group – object that the researchers of Sugary Drinks FACTS 2014 report do «not adequately differentiate between marketing to children, who are widely viewed as a special audience needing particular care, and marketing to teens and general audiences.» 

In conclusion, the food and beverage industry is a field in which irresponsible marketing practices targeting children are really popular. It is positive that companies are trying to eradicate these unethical techniques from their marketing strategy, but more efforts are required in order to protect children from unhealthy eating - and drinking - habits. Anyway, we cannot deny that companies like PepsiCo are striving to redefine their marketing conduct towards children, in order to act more responsibly and with a focus on their wellness, even if the attention towards children's health should be more and more enhanced. 

Michel et Augustin: a French case of ethical marketing

Good morning everybody,

today we are going to discuss about a virtuous case of ethical marketing in the field of food & beverages: Michel et Augustin.

Michel et Augustin

This is a French brand created in 2005 by Augustin Paluel-Marmont and Michel de Rovira, two brilliant ESCP-Europe alumni. Their brand started producing cookies (Petits sablés ronds et bons), followed by yogurts drinks (Vache à boire) and other products, such as mousses, juices, salty biscuits and so on.

The firm targets young people (between 15 and 35 years old), especially the members of the bobos – the new bourgeois and bohemian class, which represents a mix of the counter-cultural, artistic bohemian and the capitalist bourgeois, and which believes in the values of healthy food, natural products, respect for the environment and ethical standards. 

The firm’s mission is the following:

«The quality of our yogurts (big and small) and yogurts-in-a-bottle, our little round butter cookies, our cookie squares (actually, rectangles), our petits cookies from France and our cookie crackers is the absolute PRIORITY of the ENTIRE Banana Farm. Our production sites respect all applicable health and sanitation norms. And we even go beyond that, because they all meet HACCP standards, too. One site is already certified IFS (International Food Standard) and the others are in the process of certification. We choose simple, quality ingredients for our concoctions (fresh whole milk and crème fraîche, real butter, Guérande sea salt, fresh eggs, real fruit...).And quality ingredients are more expensive than not-so-quality ingredients (concentrated butter, powdered milk, dehydrated eggs…)! It takes good ingredients to make good, healthy products with real taste and little or no preservatives». 

Michel et Augustin: their products

Excellence, a good price/quality ratio – their prices are quite high, but not as high as other high-quality firms – and original packages (with childish, young design) are their philosophy, combined with guerrilla marketing – based on street marketing (events, story-telling, parades and masquerades), social media marketing and world of mouth. 

Michel et Augustin: street marketing

Their innovative communication style – young, funny, even childlike – conveys an idea of naturalness and health; moreover, the products’ origins are specified and traced, in order to inspire confidence and credibility.

To enhance the concept of high quality and selectiveness, the distribution is not massive: Michel et Augustin's products are distributed in food stores and coffee shops, and only later they started being distributed in larger distribution chains (Carrefour, Auchan ...). 

An important aspect is the dialogue with customers: every first Thursday of the month, customers are invited into the Bananaire 3.0 to taste products and give their opinion about them. This improves the company’s credibility and trustworthiness. 

I consider this company’s marketing ethical from a value-oriented perspective: the firm's products are natural, they are environment-friendly and their quality is demonstrated. Moreover, customers can give their opinions and advices: the firm respects the principles of honesty and transparency. 

The company has some values and they are strictly observed: they sell something good, qualitative, and they are open to critics, too. 

This is what ethical marketing should be: promoting as good products that are really good and qualitative, and not something potentially dangerous for your health. 

I thank my French friend Philippine Laroche for the inspiration.

Marketing to children: a critical issue

Target selection is a critical phase in marketing decision-making process: choosing the right target for your product is the best way to increase sales and to obtain profit. 

You have to select who is the potential customer that you can easily attract and persuade: and who is as sensible as a child?

Indeed, children have always been one of the marketers’ favourite targets: they are too young, innocent and unspoilt by the society to react and refuse the proposed marketing message; they do not have a rational identity that can protect them from an external manipulation.

One could argue that kids do not have purchasing power: false. Even if it is not a direct purchasing power – they do not go shopping by themselves – they exert a strong influence upon their parents’ shopping decisions. Moreover, nowadays, from a certain age they start receiving a little amount of money from their parents. The sum of these two aspects gives them a strong purchasing power, making them attractive preys to marketers’ eyes. 

Marketing to children: children's purchasing power

If the message we are trying to communicate is safe, we can debate about the ethicality of the choice of targeting helpless customers, but, actually, children will not be damaged. According to me, marketers should have the possibility of targeting children, but they must be really careful of the product they are promoting: if it can be dangerous for children’s health, if it boosts unhealthy behaviours, if it embeds violence and sexual innuendo, marketers should be prevented from targeting children.  

One of the biggest industry in which children play a big role in companies’ profits is food & beverages one. This is the field in which marketing to children proliferate: it is easier to tempt children, because they spend more time watching TV compared to adults – who are often at work – and because they get influenced quicker. 

Marketing to children and TV

Moreover, children do not care about diet – as often adults do; for this reason, they may insist with their parents to obtain a certain snack or drink.

Marketing to children and negative influence

Childhood obesity is a pressing health concern in Western countries – especially in the US – and food and beverage marketing often targets children: it is impossible to ignore the connection between these two aspects. 

Free-market supporters claim for self-regulation in this sense, while others think that a government regulation should be required.

I want to stress one particular point that I always underline: consumers may react towards these marketing campaigns, in this particular case parents should be really careful about what their children watch on TV and what kind of advertising hits them. They have to be ready to protect their children from unethical marketing and to boycott firms that show an irresponsible marketing conduct towards them. If they did so, companies would understand that this marketing technique is not profitable at all and they would cease to adopt it.

This is better than any kind of government intervention: public opinion is far stronger than it and, if exerted in an intelligent and proactive way, could be able to stop these behaviours.

Carlotta Neuenschwander