Incorporating Consumers' Needs in Nutrition Apps to Promote and Maintain Use: Mixed Methods Study.

BACKGROUND: Nutrition apps seem to be promising tools for supporting consumers toward healthier eating habits. There is a wide variety of nutrition apps available; however, users often discontinue app use at an early stage before a permanent change in dietary behavior can be achieved. OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this study was to identify, from both a user and nonuser perspective, which functionalities should be included in nutrition apps to increase intentions to start and maintain use of these apps. A secondary objective was to gain insight into reasons to quit using nutrition apps at an early stage. METHODS: This study used a mixed methods approach and included a qualitative and a quantitative study. The qualitative study (n=40) consisted of a home-use test with 6 commercially available nutrition apps, followed by 6 focus group discussions (FGDs) to investigate user experiences. The quantitative study was a large-scale survey (n=1420), which was performed in a representative sample of the Dutch population to quantify the FGDs' results. In the survey, several app functionalities were rated on 7-point Likert scales ranging from 1 (very unimportant) to 7 (very important). RESULTS: A total of 3 different phases of app use, subdivided into 10 user-centric app aspects and 46 associated app functionalities, were identified as relevant nutrition app elements in the FGDs. Relevance was confirmed in the survey, as all user-centric aspects and almost all app functionalities were rated as important to include in a nutrition app. In the starting phase, a clear introduction (mean 5.45, SD 1.32), purpose (mean 5.40, SD 1.40), and flexible food tracking options (mean 5.33, SD 1.45) were the most important functionalities. In the use phase, a complete and reliable food product database (mean 5.58, SD 1.41), easy navigation (mean 5.56, SD 1.36), and limited advertisements (mean 5.53, SD 1.51) were the most important functionalities. In the end phase, the possibility of setting realistic goals (mean 5.23, SD 1.44), new personal goals (mean 5.13, SD 1.45), and continuously offering new information (mean 4.88, SD 1.44) were the most important functionalities. No large differences between users, former users, and nonusers were found. The main reason for quitting a nutrition app in the survey was the high time investment (14/38, 37%). This was also identified as a barrier in the FGDs. CONCLUSIONS: Nutrition apps should be supportive in all 3 phases of use (start, use, and end) to increase consumers' intentions to start and maintain the use of these apps and achieve a change in dietary behavior. Each phase includes several key app functionalities that require specific attention from app developers. High time investment is an important reason to quit nutrition app use at an early stage.

An explorative study with convenience vegetables in urban Nigeria-The Veg-on-Wheels intervention.

Nigerian consumers have been found to view vegetables as healthy and health is a principal motivation for consumption; however, consumers also experience barriers related to preparation time and availability of vegetables. We therefore conducted a Veg-on-Wheels intervention, in which ready-to-cook, washed and pre-cut green leafy vegetables (GLV) were kept cool and sold for five weeks at convenient locations near workplaces and on the open market in Akure, Nigeria. Surveys were conducted prior to the intervention with 680 consumers and during the final week of the intervention with 596 consumers near workplaces and 204 consumers at the open market. Both buyers and non-buyers of the intervention were included; 49% buyers in the workplace sample and 47% in the open market sample. The Veg-on-Wheels intervention was successful, with high awareness, positive attitudes and high customer satisfaction. GLV intake was higher for Veg-on-Wheels buyers compared with non-buyers after the intervention, i.e., 10.8 vs. 8.0 portions per week, respectively. Also the intake of other vegetables was higher in the intervention group. The motives and barriers for buyers and non-buyers differed across the selling locations: main barriers were trust in the vendor and GLV source. These trust issues and vendor preferences were viewed as more important to respondents at the market than those near workplaces. This study is the first intervention study on the selling of ready-to-cook convenience vegetables in urban Nigeria. It shows that a market exists for convenience vegetables and that they have the potential to increase vegetable intake. Insights on both the food environment and consumers' motives and behaviour was crucial for designing and evaluating the intervention.

Motive-based consumer segments and their fruit and vegetable consumption in several contexts.

A targeted approach to increase fruit and vegetable consumption, considering the heterogeneity of food choice motives across consumers and across contexts, is expected to be more effective than the often used 'one-size-fits-all approach'. Therefore, the current study aims to increase understanding of consumers' food choice motives across contexts, to identify consumer segments based on these motives and to gain insights in fruit and vegetable consumption, perceptions and demographic characteristics of these segments. An online survey was conducted in May 2015 among consumers in the Netherlands, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Poland, Spain, Greece, Croatia and Serbia. 3064 participants completed the survey on fruit and 2998 participants completed the survey on vegetables. Four segments were identified, differing in their focus on present versus future food choice motives for main meals at home and for other contexts. The segments differed in their consumption, perceptions of fruit and vegetables and in their demographic characteristics. Implications for targeted approaches to increase fruit and vegetable consumption are discussed.