Marketing Nutrition: Soy, Functional Foods, Biotechnology, and Obesity
Product Description
Although encouraging people to eat more nutritiously can promote better health, most efforts by companies, health professionals, and even parents are disappointingly ineffective. Brian Wansinkâs Marketing Nutrition focuses on why people eat the foods they do, and what can be done to improve their nutrition. Wansink argues that the true challenge in marketing nutrition lies in leveraging new tools of consumer psychology (which he specifically demonstrates) and by a… More >>
Marketing Nutrition: Soy, Functional Foods, Biotechnology, and Obesity
“With innovative insights, cutting-edge research, and global best practices, Wansink unravels the mysteries of marketing nutrition and provides ingenious ideas to help encourage, promote, and improve a healthier America.”
—- Herb Jackson III, Senior Consultant, The Gallup Organization
“Quite simply the best book I have read on all that matters for infusing “nutrition” into consumers’ shopping habits. A superb synthesis of intelligence and perspectives from consumer research on how to get consumers to shop more healthfully. Should be mandatory reading for product developers, marketers and CEO’s in food companies everywhere. Read it if you have anything to say about what you eat!
—- Kantha Shelke, Consumer Insights Editor, Food Processing magazine
“It is critical that the U.S. government recognizes that intelligently focused nutrition-related efforts are important in helping lead Americans of all ages to lead healthier lifestyles. Marketing Nutrition shows how simple solutions can save lives.”
—- Congressman Timothy V. Johnson, U.S. House of Representatives
“Marketing Nutrition offers a “win-win” proposition for all concerned. Insightful companies, health professionals, and policy makers can lead the way . . . in helping people eat better and enjoy food more.”
—- Dr. James O. Hill, Director of Human Nutrition, U. of Colorado Medical School
“Well documented and insightful, Marketing Nutrition is an essential read for those involved in marketing new food products to the 21st Century consumer.”
—- Peter Golbitz, President, Soyatech, Inc.
“Professor Wansink has provided a wealth of insights into why consumers eat and behave the way they do. However, unlike many other concerned nutrition observers, he puts forth remedies to common nutrition stumbling blocks, ill-conceived marketing programs and consumer misunderstandings with an eye to more effective marketing for food companies and improved health for consumers. This valuable book should be read by industry marketing professionals and public policy makers alike.”
—- Dr. Ed McLaughlin, Director, Food Marketing Program Cornell University
“Marketing Nutrition moves theory and research into practice. There are enormous economic dividends for health care providers, public health institutions, and commercial food companies, if we are successful in doing
this.”
—- Dr. David Mela, Expertise Group Leader, Unilever Health Institute
Rating: 5 / 5
This valuable book really leverages the work that Wansink has conducted over his career – the organization and format make it a user-friendly resource that offers compelling and thought provoking insight for those trying to reshape nutrition worldwide.
Rating: 5 / 5
If you ever wanted to know how soy went from an unprofitable “poverty food” to the fastest growing segment of the health food industry, you must read this book. It tells exactly how the soy industry plays “consumer helper” and encourages soy consumption with the use of “health claims” that have been carefully created through the power of public relations, the corruption of scientific inquiry, and the collusion of the FDA. More than 60 years of studies link soy protein and soy oil to malnutrition, digestive distress, immune system breakdown, thyroid disorders, infertility, reproductive system problems, and even cancer growth. Yet soy is now widely perceived as a “health food” for men, women and children. This book tells why and how. It’s a five star book for marketers that gets one star because its authors fail to acknowledge the industry’s shabby and slippery ethics and its shameless putting of profits before people.
Rating: 1 / 5
This book presents a very real and significant problem in today’s society. That is, the North American population is getting more and unhealthy, in large part due to the North American diet. Furthermore, this Cornell University marketing professor suggests that marketing can be used to reverse this health crisis. The problematic question which consequently arises (unique to the issue of healthy eating), is how can consumers be marketed to enjoy healthy foods, when they already know what kinds of food they like to eat?
This book points out that, just as unhealthy foods have been marketed to become widely consumed, so too can healthy and nutritious foods, such as soy. Drawing from numerous psychological studies, the mindset of the consumer is closely studied to gain insight into how this can be done effectively. Consider, for example, the difference between Americans who readily turn their nose up to soy, whereas soy is a widely accepted food in many Asian countries. What accounts for these differences? What has made soy a success food in Asia, and a failure in North America? These are but a few of the questions considered by Marketing Nutrition. In effect, if one can ‘tap into’ the successes and failures of marketing various foods, the information can be used to advance the prevalence of soy in the North American diet.
Other discussions raised by Wansink include how foods that are new and unusual to the typical consumer can be effectively introduced and adopted into their lifestyle. Also, ideas are presented as to how to target nutrition towards the cook, rather than the consumer (which is proven to be ultimately more successful). Furthermore, Wansink delves into issues such as which nutritional and health information can most positively influence eating habits, in order to promote a healthier North America.
In light of these topics, Marketing Nutrition is a definite must-read for a broad audience – not only psychology and marketing researchers, but health professionals, health food companies. Wansink provides vital information for those who wish to improve the quality of life for today’s consumer, and is also of significant interest to parents and families alike. After all, vegetarian parents can begin to critically analyze how ‘non-nutrition’ is being marketed to their children through commercials, advertisements, etc., and therefore make a counteractive effort to instill healthy eating habits within their own families. In this respect, Marketing Nutrition is not only a recommended, interesting read, but a hefty investment in today’s generation, as well as in many of those to come. –Debbie Alleva
Rating: 5 / 5
Marketing Nutrition: Soy, Functional Foods, Biotechnology, and Obesity by Brian Wansink (Professor of Applied Economics of Marketing and of Nutritional Science, Cornell University) focuses on an increasingly problematic issue in American society: how can people be persuaded to eat more nutritious foods, including vegetables and soy foods? Almost everyone knows that fruit is better for one’s health than a cookie, yet not so many will pick an apple over a cookie for a dessert when the opportunity comes to choose. Marketing techniques for unhealthy foods push consumers into poor diet patterns that result in obesity, from childhood on up. Wansink reveals that the same marketing tools, techniques and insights that make non-nutritious foods popular can also bolster the appeal of nutritious foods. Techniques such as targeting foods toward the “gatekeeper” or family cook first (whose selections have more impact on what the family eats than anything else), labeling foods to sound delicious, marketing techniques to introduce unfamiliar foods and acquaint them with popular awareness, and much more are discussed in depth. An insightful book that deftly blends the scientific knowledge of a nutritionist with the wisdom and practical skill of a trained marketer.
Rating: 5 / 5