Research IDs
Food Influencers Setting Trends
New CFI approach provides insights for food and ag to earn trust.
A new research approach from The Center for Food Integrity (CFI) identifies influential consumer groups and the motivations that dictate food trends and drive conversations that impact the decisions of others. These decisions include making choices at the grocery store or forming opinions about the products, processes, people and brands that define today’s food system.
For the past 10 years, CFI has conducted annual consumer trust research to better understand public opinion and how to engage with consumers to earn trust. In the first-of-its-kind consumer research, the 2016 survey used an innovative research methodology called digital ethnography. It can help those in food and agriculture more effectively engage and balance the conversation as it provides much deeper insights into influencers, including unspoken motivations, values, top-of-mind issues, emotional triggers, preferred social channels and sources, behaviors, and trusted brands.
The research goes beyond surveying what people say they do to demonstrating what they are actually doing.
“We’re currently in the midst of a shift in the marketplace where the culture and conversation around conventional food, particularly online, is changing as consumers navigate which foods to adopt, moderate or abandon,” said Charlie Arnot, CFI CEO. “Digital ethnography identifies influencers who shape those trends.”
Digital ethnography pinpoints why consumers form beliefs and develop behaviors around food, and the why speaks to what they value, said Arnot.
“That’s important because the CFI consumer trust model shows that communicating with values is three to five times more important to earning trust than simply communicating facts and science,” he said.
“Better understanding why consumers make their food decisions and what they value in their food choices helps companies be more responsive to consumer needs. CFI’s latest research will help food companies do a better job of communicating what’s most important to consumers and the values we share,” said Leigh Horner, vice president of communications and corporate social responsibility at The Hershey Co.
Of the five consumer types identified in the research, one of particular interest to the food system is Providers, the largest group representing one-third of the U.S. population.
“Providers never feel quite good enough,” said Arnot. “The last thing they want is to be seen as a neglectful parent or to be caught snoozing when something new is known about the foods they buy for their family. To ease the anxiety, they look to other consumer types for guidance.”
This influence is why more Americans are flocking toward various attributes of food that they consider evolved and that signify progress, Arnot said. “We see that in the demand for food less processed, simpler labels and labels that indicate the product is ‘free from everything from gluten to GMOs.’
“Understanding consumer attitudes toward food and how those attitudes influence the conversation allows food companies to more effectively talk with consumers. Consumers want to feel good about the products they buy for themselves and their families and want easy access to balanced, useful information to know they are making the right choices,” said Horner. “These insights will help food companies build trust by meeting consumers’ expectations for transparency and engaging in a meaningful conversation about the food they buy.”
To download a summary of the research, “Inside the Minds of Influencers: The Truth About Trust,” visit www.foodintegrity.org. Complete research results, which include in-depth insights, detailed audience segmentation and trust-building engagement strategies, are provided to CFI members. To learn more about accessing the full research report, contact CFI at learnmore@foodintegrity.org or 816-556-3141.
Editor’s Note: This release was provided by the Center for Food Integrity.