Overcoming Consumer Fear in the Food Industry.

If we cannot trust the food we eat, things have come to a very sorry place.

Brand owners and most food writers emphasise that the most important factor in consumer preference for food brands is flavour. But how sustainable is a brand without consumer trust?

While we all occasionally enjoy foods that we know are not good for us, we would always like to believe that they are safe and that we can trust the brands and manufactures to be honest about how they are made, what is in them and where those ingredients come from.

However, a recent survey by EIT Food Consumer Observatory questioned nearly 20,000 consumers across 18 European countries and showed that:

·      Only 53% are confident that the food they eat is safe

·      36% believe that it is sustainable

·      Only 46% trust food manufactures and 27% actively distrust them

·      Only 38% believe food manufactures actually care about consumers’ concerns

·      37% feel that they are honest about how they prepare and sell their food.

Do these figures make you feel proud to work in this industry?

But it is not entirely the fault of the food manufactures or the brands. Consumer expectations are changing fast.

Processing started out as a way of preserving food so that it was available to feed people all year rather than just at harvest time.

Food manufacturing grew as more efficient and cheaper ways of preserving food became available, facilitating a wider range of food at more affordable prices to a greater number of people.

Generally, a very good thing. But, as with all good things, when does it stop being good for the population as a whole?

With ample availability in most markets, consumer concern has turned from availability and is focusing more upon:

·       “Is this good for me?’

and

·       “How Sustainable is it?”

Written like that, these questions seem quite straight forward. However, what each individual means by them is very variable indeed and there lies the issue for food manufactures and Brand Owners.

Not so long ago the focus of health was all about calories, but now there is increasing focus upon the nutritional content with different consumers focusing upon different aspects of nutrition for their own perceived requirements.

Sustainability also means different things to different consumers. Is it about limiting greenhouse gasses, animal welfare, rainforests or other environmental impact, ethical supply chains…?

It is increasingly difficult for manufactures and brands owners to cover all the bases and even more difficult for them to communicate clearly what they are doing and how.

No wonder consumer trust levels in our industry are so low. They are asking lots of questions of us, and we are failing to answer many of them.

So what is the route to increasing consumer Trust?

Consumer trust is not entirely rational. It is an intuitive response to an assimilation of knowledge and experience. It is more emotional than rational.

We trust people – and organisations – that we believe to be honest, to tell the truth and that act with integrity.

Trust is undermined when we feel that facts are hidden from us, we are lied to or when behaviour seems callous, dishonest or unethical.

We trust people we believe to act on principle, we distrust those we believe to be self-interested.

While evidence and ‘facts’ will contribute to how we feel, overall our trust is based upon our interpretation of this evidence and these ‘facts’. Trust is a belief in something, it is emotional more than rational.

So, in regaining greater trust in our brands food manufactures need to understand these emotional responses, they need to do the right things, but they also need to communicate with consumers on at emotional rather than a purely rational level.

Consumers need to feel that the claims made about nutrition, about sustainability and ethical sourcing are both true and relevant to them. They need to be reminded as they consume the products why they chose this brand. There needs to be something in the consumption experience that helps the consumer to believe that any claims made on pack are true.

It is not the rational claims or proof offered that will build trust in the brand, it is the consumers’ emotional response to these that will make all the difference.

Presented in the wrong way or without emotional reassurance even the best intentions can be misunderstood.

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Chris Lukehurst is a Consumer Psychologist and a Director at The Marketing Clinic:

Providing Clarity on the Psychological relationships between consumers and brands