Identification of key target groups or stakeholders that are necessary to achieve

the government’s objective of reducing childhood obesity:

Target group:
-Family
-children
-parents
Stakeholders:
-advertisers
-school
-food producers

Young people’s eating habits:

1. Eating too fast

Most of the obese people tend to have a good appetite and eat food very quickly. In such a case,
the food is always swallowed without being fully chewed, so it can not change into chyme and
stick on the stomach wall. As a result, after eating a lot of foods, those people still feel very hungry
and want to eat much more. In addition, as eating too fast will elevate the level of blood glucose,
so before the brain sends out the signal to stop eating, people have already eaten too much food.

2. Eating snacks continuously

For some fat people, especially children and young obese women, they seem to eat small amount
of foods at the main meal, but they eat snack continuously, which will cause the total calories
accumulated in the body greatly exceed the normal standard.

3. Without eating breakfast

Many women want to achieve the purpose of weight loss by eating less or without eating any
breakfast. However, the result is always the opposite to what they wish. Because if you do not eat
any breakfast, it will increase the hungry feeling at lunch, so it will promote the absorption of food.
Therefore, the foods at lunch will soon be absorbed and changed into fat, thus will lead to obesity
as time passes.

4. Inappropriate dinner
Because of the time limitation, many people tend to pay little attention to breakfast and lunch, but
always eat a lot of rich foods at supper, with chicken, fish, meat, eggs, and vegetables filled on the
table. However, such an arrangement is not scientific. When the sugar is digested in human body,
some part will enter into the blood and form blood sugar, while the insulin can make the blood
 sugar change into fat and accumulate on the blood vessel wall and abdominal wall. As time passes,
it will make people become fat.

5. Eating too much sugar

Sugar is not only easy to be absorbed, but also can enhance the activity of the enzyme needed for
the formation of fat. What's more, it can also stimulate the secretion of insulin, which has the effect
of promoting the synthesis of fat, thus leading to the accumulation of fat in the body.

The causes of bad eating habits:

-Stress
-Availability (at the caf)
-Beer
-Soft drinks
-fast foods, convenience foods
The results from bad eating habits:
-Weight gain
-Diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, and tooth decay
-Depression, inability to concentrate
Common misconceptions about eating healthy:
-Eliminating red meat

Decision making process:

1. problem recognition
2. information search
3. evaluation of althnatives
4. product choice
5. outcomes
This model is important for anyone making marketing decisions. It forces the marketer to consider the
whole buying process rather than just the purchase decision (when it may be too late for a business to
influence the choice!)

The model implies that customers pass through all stages in every purchase. However, in more routine
purchases, customers often skip or reverse some of the stages.

For example, a student buying a favourite hamburger would recognise the need (hunger) and go right to
the purchase decision, skipping information search and evaluation. However, the model is very useful
when it comes to understanding any purchase that requires some thought and deliberation.

The buying process starts with need recognition. At this stage, the buyer recognises a problem or need
(e.g. I am hungry, we need a new sofa, I have a headache) or responds to a marketing stimulus (e.g.
you pass Starbucks and are attracted by the aroma of coffee and chocolate muffins).

An “aroused” customer then needs to decide how much information (if any) is required. If the need is
strong and there is a product or service that meets the need close to hand, then a purchase decision is
likely to be made there and then. If not, then the process of information search begins.

A customer can obtain information from several sources:

• Personal sources: family, friends, neighbours etc

• Commercial sources: advertising; salespeople; retailers; dealers; packaging; point-of-sale displays
• Public sources: newspapers, radio, television, consumer organisations; specialist magazines
• Experiential sources: handling, examining, using the product
The usefulness and influence of these sources of information will vary by product and by customer.
Research suggests that customers value and respect personal sources more than commercial sources
(the influence of “word of mouth”). The challenge for the marketing team is to identify which
information sources are most influential in their target markets.

In the evaluation stage, the customer must choose between the alternative brands, products and
services.

How does the customer use the information obtained?

An important determinant of the extent of evaluation is whether the customer feels “involved” in the
product. By involvement, we mean the degree of perceived relevance and personal importance that
accompanies the choice.

Where a purchase is “highly involving”, the customer is likely to carry out extensive evaluation.

High-involvement purchases include those involving high expenditure or personal risk – for example
buying a house, a car or making investments.

Low involvement purchases (e.g. buying a soft drink, choosing some breakfast cereals in the
supermarket) have very simple evaluation processes.

Why should a marketer need to understand the customer evaluation process?

The answer lies in the kind of information that the marketing team needs to provide customers in
different buying situations.

In high-involvement decisions, the marketer needs to provide a good deal of information about the
positive consequences of buying. The sales force may need to stress the important attributes of the
product, the advantages compared with the competition; and maybe even encourage “trial” or
“sampling” of the product in the hope of securing the sale.

Post-purchase evaluation - Cognitive Dissonance

The final stage is the post-purchase evaluation of the decision. It is common for customers to
experience concerns after making a purchase decision. This arises from a concept that is known as
“cognitive dissonance”. The customer, having bought a product, may feel that an alternative would
have been preferable. In these circumstances that customer will not repurchase immediately, but is
likely to switch brands next time.
To manage the post-purchase stage, it is the job of the marketing team to persuade the potential
customer that the product will satisfy his or her needs. Then after having made a purchase, the
customer should be encouraged that he or she has made the right decision.

Buyer behavior concepts such as motivation, involvement & learning:

1. Learning
- Behavioral learning theories assume that learning takes place as the result of
responses to external events
- Classical conditioning occurs when a stimulus that elicits a response is paired
with another stimulus that initially does not elicit a response on its own
(unconditioned stimulus, conditioned stimulus, conditioned response)
- Operant conditioning, also known as instrumental conditioning, occurs as the
individual learns to perform behaviors that produce positive outcomes and to
avoid those that yield negative outcomes
1. Fixed-interval reinforcement
2. Variable-interval reinforcement
3. Fixed-ratio reinforcement
4. Variable-ratio reinforcement
- Cognitive learning occurs as a result of mental processes
- Observational learning occurs when people watch the actions of others and
note the reinforcements they receive for their behavior

2. Motivation
- Freudian theory developed the idea that much of human behavior stems from a
fundamental conflict between people’s desire to gratify their physical needs
and the necessity to function as a responsible member of society
- Major motives for consumption as identified by Ernest Dichter
Power – masculinity virility, security, eroticism, moral purity – cleanliness,
social acceptance, individuality, status, femininity, reward, mastery over
environment, delineation, magic – mystery

Consideration of how these concepts can affect the decision making process of
young people & their attitude towards healthy eating:
1. Classical conditioning
Television advertising use cartoon characters upon this theory
For example, if ‘Coca-Cola’ use ‘Donald duck’ as its representing character, once
children see ‘Donald duck’, they would think about ‘Coca-cola’
2. Observational learning
When children saw their friends were satisfied with their coke, children would
buy a coke for themselves
3. Purchase momentum
Sometimes children would choose their snack food without reasons; perhaps they
just enjoy eating potato chips
4. Motives
- Power: sugary products & large breakfasts (to charge oneself up)
- Security: ice-cream (to feel like a loved child)
- Eroticism: sweets (to link)
- Social acceptance
- Reward
- Magic – mystery: carbonated drinks (magical effervescent property)