The Exploring Food Project: Pre-testing Messages for a Healthy Food Campaign Susannah Crawford

1. The Exploring Food Project: Pre-testing Messages for a Healthy Food Campaign Susannah Crawford Department of Health and Wellness Promotion, University of North Carolina Asheville Origins of Project Challenges Faced & Reponses Goal- To understand and address barriers to accessing and purchasing healthy food among food decision-makers in communities of lower wealth in Western North Carolina. Public Service Project Goal- To develop and use a framework tool that offers pre-tested messages, slogan and graphics for the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to use when designing future healthy food marketing campaigns and new infrastructure. • Time constraints • Managed time efficiently and plan to continue on the project until competition. • Writing paper • With multiple learning disabilities I set aside a longer period of time for writing plus multiple edits from various people. Methods & Work Undertaken Pre-tested Slogans & Campaign Recommendations Ties to Academia • Review The Exploring Food Project’s team findings from phases I & II on the perceptions held in communities of lower wealth on purchasing and consuming healthy food • Discuss and brainstorm ideas for slogans and messages with the team • Organize pre-testing survey into categories based off of perceptions found from previous data • Connections • Responsibility • Strategies • Survey in multiple communities of lower wealth • Receive feed back on slogans and messages • Each slogan pre-tested with questions on comprehension, appeal and likelihood it will influence a purchasing on consuming decision. • Analyze data • Understand perceptions of purchasing and consuming healthy food • Determine Recommendations for the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on a Healthy Food Campaign • The Appeal portion of the survey asked participants to rank each slogan 1-5. (1 being they disliked it, 5 being they loved it) • The Likelihood of influence a decision portion of the survey also asked participants to rank each slogan 1-5. (1 being it has not influence, 5 being an absolute influence to choose the healthier choice) • The numbers below represent each slogans’ average score. • Related to multiple service-learning courses and continued my hands-on experience within the community. • Utilizing knowledge from related courses- Nutrition, Public Speaking, Statistics, Social and Cultural Inquiry, Service Learning Health Promotion, Health Promotion/ Theory and Practice, Media Ethics and Society, and Society Cultural and Poverty Responsibility Connections Sustainability • The Exploring Food Project is sustainable through a tangible product of healthy food campaign recommendations for the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) targeted at Western North Carolina’s lower wealth communities. • Unfortunately the Community Transformation grant has been cut however The Exploring Food Project will continue this work though the end of July. Strategies • The recommendations below were pre-tested though the Comprehension portion of feedback received. The Comprehension portion of the survey asked participants to provide feedback on what each slogan means to them and state what it makes them think about. • From highest recommended to lowest, the three categories of slogans and why- • Responsibility- Whether an individual is knowledgeable on the importance of nutrition, all respondents understood the food they consume directly impacts their current and future health. • Connections- Respondents without pervious knowledge in nutrition did not understand why connecting to their food in important or why it would matter. • Strategies- The pre-tested slogans in this category suggested that consuming and purchasing healthy food is an easy decision. However, with EBT cards and the stress of survival in low wealth communities many respondents stated this is not true. References Azétsop J, Joy T. 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US Department of Agriculture, US Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary guidelines for Americans, 2010. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office; 2010. • Pre-tested wordingto use: • -Natural-Locally grown-Affordable -Community • Top three slogans:-Know where your food comes from • -Your body will thank you-Eat what is real