Out-of-home Consumer Food Purchase Behaviour in the Presence and Absence of Value Pricing and Price Promotions

Energy (kcal) ordered,Monetary value of order,Likelihood of using a bulk-buy promotion,Likelihood of selecting a larger or smaller size

It is important to understand the role that price-based incentives in the out-of-home food
 sector play in food purchasing, and whether they lead to positive savings for the consumer
 (as they would likely anticipate when making purchases), or whether these incentives lead to
 increased spending and increased purchasing of unhealthy products. Additionally, it is
 important to consider whether the impacts of price-based incentives differ according to a
 range of demographic characteristics. For example, some evidence suggests that effects of
 removing a price-based incentive are greater in individuals with a higher BMI. Evidence also
 suggests there may also be differences in impact according to socioeconomic position (SEP) as
 individuals in lower SEP groups reportedly use price-based incentives more frequently. If
 lower SEP individuals are more affected by price-based incentives (i.e. they prompt ordering
 in excess and greater spend), then the banning of such strategies could help to reduce health
 inequalities, by nudging lower SEP consumers toward healthier dietary choices in the OOH food
 sector.
 
 To date, it is unclear what effect policies which remove specific types of price-based
 incentives would be likely to have on consumer behaviour. In particular, individual product
 price reductions (e.g. £ off this product), bulk buy price reductions (e.g., Save £ when
 bought together) and volume value pricing (e.g., the price increase from a small to large
 portion size not being directly proportional to volume increase).
 
 Therefore our primary objectives are:
 
 • To observe the effect of removing price-based incentives (individual product price
 reductions, bulk buy price reductions, volume value pricing) in the OOH food sector on:
 
 - Energy purchased per household
 
 - Money spent per household
 
 Secondary Objectives:
 
 • To explore whether any effects of removing price-based incentives differ based on
 participant characteristics (BMI, SEP, food choice motives)