Consumer selection of high-fibre foods: behavioural influences in the retail environment

Abstract

Diet-related non-communicable diseases continue to place substantial pressure on public health systems in the United Kingdom, with persistently low dietary fibre intake representing a critical yet under-addressed contributor to poor diet quality. Despite strong epidemiological evidence linking fibre consumption to improved health outcomes, population intake remains well below recommended levels. This gap reflects limitations in traditional information-based dietary interventions and highlights the need to examine how food environments shape everyday consumer choice.

Drawing on behavioural economics and choice architecture theory, this thesis investigates the effectiveness of nudging strategies in influencing consumer selection of high-fibre foods within grocery retail environments. Adopting a mixed-methods, multi-phase research design, the study integrates a systematic literature review, secondary market analysis of UK food product launches, a large-scale consumer survey, and two experimental studies employing virtual reality and eye-tracking methodologies. This approach enables examination of consumer perceptions, attention, heuristic processing, and behavioural responses to fibre-related cues across increasingly realistic retail contexts.

The findings demonstrate that fibre-related information is weakly understood, unevenly signalled, and frequently overshadowed by more salient nutritional claims. Heuristic claim formats were shown to dominate consumer attention and trust, despite often corresponding to lower objective fibre content, revealing structural information asymmetries within the marketplace. Experimental evidence indicates that nudging through claim design and visual salience can influence attention and choice, but effects are highly context-dependent and patterned by demographic factors.

This research makes original theoretical, methodological, and policy contributions by positioning fibre claims as behavioural signals within retail choice architecture and highlighting ethical and governance tensions surrounding nudging interventions. The findings inform evidence-based recommendations for policymakers, retailers, and designers seeking to promote healthier and more equitable food choices through retail environments.

Date of Award	May 2026
Original language	English
Sponsors	Department for the Economy
Supervisor	Lynsey Elizabeth Hollywood (Supervisor), Geoff Simmons (Supervisor) & Tamara Bucher (Supervisor)