A new study will assess the impact of the Health Star Rating system and provide manufacturers with a better understanding of how it affects their categories and brands.
FMCG research agency Play Market Research has joined forces with FMCG manufacturers, several Australian universities, and an insights partner to undertake the large-scale nationwide study.
The study will offer manufacturers a better understanding of potential changes in shopper and consumer behaviour as the Health Star system gathers momentum, according to Play Market Research founder Chris Thomas.
“Over the last few months we have conducted various small scale studies, commissioned by individual manufacturers, focusing on specific brands,” he said.
“What I believe the industry needs, is a much larger and more holistic approach to comprehensively understand the likely impact of the Health Star System through different lenses.
“We need to understand the impact of Health Stars from the shopper, consumer, category and brand perspective. In order to do this, we have put together a steering committee consisting of two specialist FMCG research agencies, experts in consumer decision making from two of Australia’s leading Universities, and various FMCG manufacturers.”
According to Thomas, the study aims to inform retailers and suppliers how the health star rating is likely to impact them at both the macro and micro levels, the differences between perceived versus actual behaviours, and it will also form the basis of a selection of journal articles and white papers.
It will answer questions about which categories are more or less at risk, what the Health Stars mean to shoppers, whether consumers are feeling empowered or confused, and whether the Health Stars change the current repertoire of brands purchased.
The study will use various methodologies, including a large scale quantitative survey of Australian shoppers, and a 4-week shopper community to collect qualitative feedback.
Chris Thomas will speak at the AIP Vision 2020 conference this Thursday. His talk, 'Understanding packaging changes from a shopper's perspective', will refer to local and international studies to illustrate where packaging designs have gone wrong, simply because the brand owner didn't understand how shoppers would react.
