The Use of General Marketing and Nudging of Fruits and Vegetables in Canadian Colleges and Universities: Food Service Manager Perspectives

Abstract

This thesis aimed to understand current marketing practices, knowledge, facilitators and barriers of nudge marketing of fruits and vegetables (FV) by food service (FS) management in post-secondary institutions. Nudging uses subtle marketing techniques to promote purchasing of products or behavior changes without coercing customers or forbidding options. Twelve participants from 10 institutions were recruited from the Canadian College and University Food Service Association for semi-structured phone interviews. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed via thematic and descriptive analyses. All institutions were marketing FV in various ways. Six out of 10 were implementing nudging for FV. Feasibility of nudging depended on the type of nudge. Nudges perceived as difficult were typically costly and required structural changes and/or communication with external departments. Nudges perceived as easy were least costly and required little coordination. The results provide needed information on the most acceptable and feasible FV nudge interventions for future testing.