UNE's Michele Polacsek co-authors article on food and beverage trade promotions

Michele Polacsek, Ph.D., M.H.S., professor of public health and director of the Center for Excellence in Public Health at UNE, has co-authored a literature review on the influence that trade promotions by food and beverage manufacturers can have on retailer marketing strategies and, ultimately, consumer purchasing behavior and attitudes.

The article, “Influence of Food and Beverage Companies on Retailer Marketing Strategies and Consumer Behavior,” was published in a special issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health focusing on retail strategies to support healthy eating.

The literature review examines how trade promotion — incentives paid to retailers — affects how food and beverage products are placed, priced, and promoted in stores. By reviewing 74 studies related to the subject, the researchers found that trade promotion practices have a considerable effect on product placement, pricing, and promotion, and, in turn, on a range of customer outcomes, including purchase volume, spending, and attitudes.

“The retail food environment plays an important role in shaping dietary habits that contribute to obesity and other chronic diseases,” the authors write. “Study findings provide valuable insight that can guide efforts by policymakers, public health practitioners, and food retailers to design retail environments that promote healthy eating.”

The authors conclude that public health practitioners and policymakers could consider policies that regulate promotion of unhealthy products by targeting each of the four trade promotion practices identified in the study: category management, slotting allowances, price discounts, and cooperative advertising.

The study, and its subsequent publication, was supported by Healthy Eating Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.