Examining public support for comprehensive policy packages to tackle unhealthy food environments
Abstract Objective: This study examines public support—and its drivers—for comprehensive policy packages (i.e., bundles of coherent policy measures introduced together) aimed at improving food environments. Design: Participants completed an online survey with a choice-based conjoint experiment,...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
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| Series: | Public Health Nutrition |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1368980024002532/type/journal_article |
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| author | Simone Wahnschafft Achim Spiller Yasemin Boztuğ Peter von Philipsborn Dominic Lemken |
| author_facet | Simone Wahnschafft Achim Spiller Yasemin Boztuğ Peter von Philipsborn Dominic Lemken |
| author_sort | Simone Wahnschafft |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Abstract
Objective:
This study examines public support—and its drivers—for comprehensive policy packages (i.e., bundles of coherent policy measures introduced together) aimed at improving food environments.
Design:
Participants completed an online survey with a choice-based conjoint experiment, where they evaluated pairs of policy packages comprising up to seven distinct food environment measures. After choosing a preferred package or opting for a single policy, participants designed their ideal policy package. Based on their choices, respondents were categorized as resistant, inclined, or supportive towards policy packaging according to their frequency of opting out for single measures and the number of policies they included in their ideal package.
Setting:
The study was conducted in Germany via an online survey.
Participants:
The sample included 1,200 eligible German voters, recruited based on age, gender, and income quotas.
Results:
Based on both opt-out frequency (44.7%) and ideal policy packaging (72.8%) outcomes, most respondents were inclined towards policy packages. The inclusion of fiscal incentives and school-based measures in packages enhanced support, while fiscal disincentives reduced it. Key drivers of support included beliefs about the importance of diet-related issues and the role of government in regulation, while socio-demographic factors, political leaning, and personal experience with diet-related disease had minimal impact.
Conclusions:
The results reveal public appetite for policy packages to address unhealthy food environments, contingent on package design and beliefs about the issue’s severity and legitimacy of intervention. Public health advocates should design and promote policy packages aligned with public preferences, especially given anticipated opposition from commercial interests.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-594a0b220f6e410b8e09a91add1c05d0 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1368-9800 1475-2727 |
| language | English |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Public Health Nutrition |
| spelling | doaj-art-594a0b220f6e410b8e09a91add1c05d02025-01-16T21:51:16ZengCambridge University PressPublic Health Nutrition1368-98001475-272713210.1017/S1368980024002532Examining public support for comprehensive policy packages to tackle unhealthy food environmentsSimone Wahnschafft0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7481-8214Achim Spiller1Yasemin Boztuğ2Peter von Philipsborn3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7059-6944Dominic Lemken4Research Training Group in Sustainable Food Systems, University of Göttingen, Heinrich-Düker-Weg 12, 37073 Göttingen, Germany,Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Marketing for Food and Agricultural Products, University of Göttingen, Platz der Göttinger Sieben 5, 37073 Göttingen, Germany,Department of Business Administration, University of Goettingen, 37073, Goettingen, Germany,Chair of Public Health and Health Services Research, Institute for Medical Information Processing, Biometry, and Epidemiology (IBE), LMU Munich, Munich 80539, Germany Pettenkofer School of Public Health, Munich, Germany,Institute for Food and Resource Economics, University of Bonn, Nußallee 21, 53115 Bonn, Germany, Abstract Objective: This study examines public support—and its drivers—for comprehensive policy packages (i.e., bundles of coherent policy measures introduced together) aimed at improving food environments. Design: Participants completed an online survey with a choice-based conjoint experiment, where they evaluated pairs of policy packages comprising up to seven distinct food environment measures. After choosing a preferred package or opting for a single policy, participants designed their ideal policy package. Based on their choices, respondents were categorized as resistant, inclined, or supportive towards policy packaging according to their frequency of opting out for single measures and the number of policies they included in their ideal package. Setting: The study was conducted in Germany via an online survey. Participants: The sample included 1,200 eligible German voters, recruited based on age, gender, and income quotas. Results: Based on both opt-out frequency (44.7%) and ideal policy packaging (72.8%) outcomes, most respondents were inclined towards policy packages. The inclusion of fiscal incentives and school-based measures in packages enhanced support, while fiscal disincentives reduced it. Key drivers of support included beliefs about the importance of diet-related issues and the role of government in regulation, while socio-demographic factors, political leaning, and personal experience with diet-related disease had minimal impact. Conclusions: The results reveal public appetite for policy packages to address unhealthy food environments, contingent on package design and beliefs about the issue’s severity and legitimacy of intervention. Public health advocates should design and promote policy packages aligned with public preferences, especially given anticipated opposition from commercial interests. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1368980024002532/type/journal_articlePolicy packagingFood environmentsPublic supportConjoint experiment |
| spellingShingle | Simone Wahnschafft Achim Spiller Yasemin Boztuğ Peter von Philipsborn Dominic Lemken Examining public support for comprehensive policy packages to tackle unhealthy food environments Public Health Nutrition Policy packaging Food environments Public support Conjoint experiment |
| title | Examining public support for comprehensive policy packages to tackle unhealthy food environments |
| title_full | Examining public support for comprehensive policy packages to tackle unhealthy food environments |
| title_fullStr | Examining public support for comprehensive policy packages to tackle unhealthy food environments |
| title_full_unstemmed | Examining public support for comprehensive policy packages to tackle unhealthy food environments |
| title_short | Examining public support for comprehensive policy packages to tackle unhealthy food environments |
| title_sort | examining public support for comprehensive policy packages to tackle unhealthy food environments |
| topic | Policy packaging Food environments Public support Conjoint experiment |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1368980024002532/type/journal_article |
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